Troops May Become Their Own Batteries

Tag : electronic weighing machine

Richard Edwards, vice president of Tactical Missiles and CombatManeuver Systems at Lockheed, says the armor is safe and viable.Initial data suggests the armor can power up while successfullystopping small-arms fire.
With the race to solve the power puzzle, the folks at Lockheedaren't the only ones who see a future in rechargeable technology.
Scientists at Georgia Tech have created a wearable power sourcethey call the "power shirt," a device packed with nanowires thatcould harness the body's kinetic motion, even down to the flow ofblood beneath the skin.
Tiny wires attach to fibers in the shirt and tap into a soldier'sbody movement, combining the electrical flow from many fiber pairswoven together. It could generate enough electricity to power arange of small electronic devices.
More than just shirts could become power sources; by weaving thefibers into other materials, Kevlar jackets and even tents couldutilize the technology to draw energy from sound vibrations or windmotion.
Still, moisture from sweat — or worse, a washing machine— could pose a problem for the shirt's zinc-oxide wires. Butthe shirt could suffice for the moment, as some soldiers wouldrather stink than have to break their backs for batteries.
This fall, the Defense Department is sponsoring a $1 million prizefor developing a wearable power system that weighs under 4kilograms (8.8 pounds) and provides power for a four-day mission.
Should one of the 100 teams competing for the prize succeed, and ifthese technologies take off, American troops soon could be carryinga much lighter load.
Allison Barrie, a security and terrorism consultant with theCommission for National Security in the 21st Century, is FOX News'security columnist.