I doubt any available RF charging technology would be useful in the power densities required by dis-mounted troops. Of course, Tesla would be delighted to see all of the recent interest in wireless power delivery.
I wonder if the battery technologies listed in the article have the same fire hazard of traditional lithium batteries? If so, I would hope that shielding the troops from the heat and/or flame would be priority #1.
With advent of electrical/electronic systems on battlefield, why couldn't soldiers wear the lighter battery with remote charging ability. POWERCAST and others make a RF Battery Charging system that wirelessly transmits power to receivers that charge batteries, or can be used to store info from Soldier in this case, and transmit in bundles every 3-5 minutes.
Wireless technology takes output from generated electricity, transmits it to soldier's receiver and then allows them to store, causing them to wear lighter weight equipment. System could transmit directionally to a platoon or brigade size unit over RF, and each soldier's system could store a new charge without changing out batteries or connecting to a charger.
Simple, lightweight, very few moving parts, and no matter where you were as long in reasonable distance and somewhat line of sight, you could be Charged.
Elizabeth's statement "SWIPES can hold pouch-mounted chargers and power cables... " says there's loads of room to improve a soldier's load besides the battery.
In two years, I'll predict the army will be looking at ways to eliminate all of that cabling and chargers. Each device would have a dedicated holster with built in charging capability, like docking an I-pod. Each holster could then draw from a central, larger power source via some sort of bus built into the harness the soldier wears. No cables, no power blocks.
The purpose is to make wearing, using, charging as effortless as possible. No fumbling in pouches, no cables. Just put the unit away in its holster.
It would look more like Adam West's "Bat Utility Belt" I suppose...
Since energy density is the key to reducing battery weight, then I would assume that the lithium-carbon monofluoride mentioned here must have a very high energy density. I wonder how high the energy density is and whether this chemistry would make sense for consumer applications.
I agree, having also just come back from a trade show. And while the exercise is a benefit, I do wonder when the weight is going to come down. Looks like the military may lead the way.
Having just lugged my laptop around again while traveling to a trade show last month, this looks like an especially good idea. The weight of the batteries (I always carry an extra JIC) and the power adapter are still ridiculously heavy and most of the weight involved.
I agree. These are great efforts. I'd like to see this used in Search and Rescue, especially in the mountains or back country.
All of the articels we've seen around research like this are heartening. The fact that so much militray R&D is applicable for mass market is fantastic.
It's great to see so many different efforts around trying to lighten the load of soldier backpacks. Between this effort and some of the others we've written about, including the batteries that are charged based on soldier activity, there are a lot of options for making things slightly easier for our military personnel when out in the field.
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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