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Australian Army Invests in Electrical Shirts

Posted by samzenpus on Thu Nov 01, 2007 03:57 AM
from the shocking-sleeves dept.
The Military Power Technology
Stony Stevenson writes "The Australian Defence Department has injected $4.4 million worth of funding to further Australia's national science agency's (the CSIRO) research into designing clothing which can be used as a self-recharging electrical source on the battlefield. The Defence Department is hoping the technology can be used to replace cumbersome disposable batteries that soldiers must carry on the battlefield. The Flexible Integrated Energy Device (FIED) will be used to store and provide energy over a continuous period of time. It can be charged by either vibration energy harvesting or through plugging into an electrical power point."
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Submission: Australian army invests in electrical shirts by Stony Stevenson (954022)
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  • Cold ones (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    As long as it can keep beer cold.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I have a better idea, involving kangaroos and treadmill-powered refrigerators.

      • Just a question... (Score:2, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward

        ...hoping the technology can be used to replace cumbersome disposable batteries that soldiers must carry on the battlefield. The Flexible Integrated Energy Device (FIED) will be used to store and provide energy over a continuous period of time. It can be charged by either vibration energy harvesting or through plugging into an electrical power point."

        Just curious .. if the vibration energy is derived from a battery powered device, does this mean that our female soldiers on solo assignments can safely assume they will never run out of batteries?

  • heh. (Score:5, Funny)

    by apodyopsis (1048476) on Thursday November 01 2007, @04:12AM (#21194063)
    Thats great, now they just need to give out a load of free pin ups pics so they can all get to work cranking up a good charge to power their gear.

    • Thats great, now they just need to give out a load of free pin ups pics so they can all get to work cranking up a good charge to power their gear.
      Heyyy.. I think I just came up with an idea for a perpetual motion .. er.. vibration device.
      • Why women soldiers? I'm sure if male soldiers are left out there long enough, they would appreciate a vibration device just as well as their female counterparts.

        • Why women soldiers? I'm sure if male soldiers are left out there long enough, they would appreciate a vibration device just as well as their female counterparts.
          Indeed, why stop there? They should spend another 4 million and develop the Nude Bomb and shower the enemy skies with toys. Then it's just a matter of waiting before the enemy nation becomes a tourist haven for obese elderly nudists. Even the thought of that would be enough to cause widespread peace, I'd have thought.
        • I'm sure he was talking about their boobs jiggling or bouncing up and down without a bra rather than an actual vibrator used for vaginal stimulation. That would just consume precious power rather than generate it like the boob vibrator would.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Eivind (15695)
          That problem lessens itself if you've got both types of soldiers.

  • Now say after me (Score:4, Insightful)

    by bakuun (976228) on Thursday November 01 2007, @04:22AM (#21194095)
    The first law of thermodynamics states: "The increase in the internal energy of a system is equal to the amount of energy added by heating the system, minus the amount lost as a result of the work done by the system on its surroundings".

    This means that while it is perfectly possible in theory for soldiers to charge batteries by running around, they will have to exert that extra energy themselves. I doubt that any soldiers (already heavily laden with weapons, body-armour and other gear) will want to wear suit that requires more energy from you for movements than normal suits.

    • Re:Now say after me (Score:5, Interesting)

      by bestiarosa (938309) <(moc.citsatprocm ... (60405595tnega )> on Thursday November 01 2007, @04:30AM (#21194131)
      True, but I guess those shirt will harvest energy from body heat the soldiers would have lost anyway and from movements the soldiers would have done anyway. This way, the shirt would only be recycling energy which would've been otherwise lost.

      On the other hand, imagine if the battery somehow breaks starting to leak acid all over the guy's skin.

    • Yeah, but... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by amake (673443) on Thursday November 01 2007, @04:34AM (#21194147) Homepage
      ...if [the extra exertion required to charge this shirt] is less than or equal to [the energy needed to haul around those batteries the shirt will be replacing], then it's a net win. In fact, even if the shirt requires more exertion, it might still be worth it not to have to worry, "Do I have my batteries with me today?" "Are my batteries charged?"

      • ...if [the extra exertion required to charge this shirt] is less than or equal to [the energy needed to haul around those batteries the shirt will be replacing], then it's a net win.
        Y'know... I think you just invented perpetual motion! Who'd have thought the missing factor would be human effort. All those idiots messing round with magnets.

         

        • Re:Yeah, but... (Score:4, Informative)

          by jank1887 (815982) on Thursday November 01 2007, @08:15AM (#21195319)
          that's not what he said. Let me translate:

          Current method is inefficient. New method is also inefficient, but not as bad as first method. Thus, even though the total system energy will be depleted eventually, less is being wasted rather than being converted to useful work in the new method. SO IFF the new method is 'less bad', the overall system will see an improvement in function. No perpetual motion required. The guy still has to 'plug in' at some point.

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by timeOday (582209)

          Y'know... I think you just invented perpetual motion!

          Bull. You almost have to wonder if people should even be taught the laws of thermodynamics, they're so eager to run off and leap to unsupported conclusions. Every single story in any way related to power, somebody refers to the laws of thermodynamics to "prove" it's not a good idea because "the power still has to come from somewhere." I got news for you kids, that doesn't mean all power sources are equally useful, economic, reliable, efficient, or

      • now the question will be "did my shirt get mixed in with the non-electrical laundry?"
        and "will this thing shock me everytime it rains?"

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by das_magpie (1149995)

      I doubt that any soldiers (already heavily laden with weapons, body-armour and other gear)

      Yes but this is a start in the reduction of heavily laden gear.

      The increase in the internal energy of a system is equal to the amount of energy added by heating the system, minus the amount lost as a result of the work done by the system on its surroundings".

      Whats this really matter its still a plus for the soldiers system must do the work regardless and the expended energy is going into a system which has a positive effect on the soldier as it is lighter then previous disposable solution?

    • The laws of thermodynamics hold perfectly true, but it's not a simple closed system. This system sounds as if it is harvesting waste energy. (the running that the soldier is already doing) The extra effort exists in the weight of the unit, but since it replaces another, chemical battery system, the tradeoff will likely be negligible.

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by bakuun (976228)

        This system sounds as if it is harvesting waste energy. (the running that the soldier is already doing)
        The running is not waste energy - the energy used for running is spent up doing just that - running. Granted, the muscles will produce heat, which can be used - but the article seems to suggest that it is not heat which will charge the batteries, but rather the actual motion.
    • They will already be doing work to bend and flex their existing suits, it's just being lost as there is no mechanism to catch it
    • It all depends on whether the extra force is more than carrying batteries around or not.
    • The main thrust of the technology is to both distribute the battery weight around and harvest some energy to charge them, looks like possibly up and down movement of a walking/running person. since they have to lift the battery anyway (stated as weighing several kilos in the article) as long as the charging mechanism does not weigh too much it would be quite useful. just off the top of my head the cells up and down movement in the jacket could pull directly on a cable hooked up to a geared flywheel to driv

  • Styling (Score:5, Funny)

    by Edgyboy (1157885) on Thursday November 01 2007, @04:25AM (#21194111) Homepage
    Are they going to look like Dynamo from the movie ''Running man''?
    If not, I'm not interested.

  • Ask any Grunt... (Score:4, Funny)

    by NewToNix (668737) on Thursday November 01 2007, @04:35AM (#21194151) Journal
    And he'll tell you all that's needed is a fuel cell powered by sweat. Then he could pack even highly inefficient energy weapons into battle & still have power to spare.

    Just for those of you that may not be familiar with the term: Grunt [wikipedia.org]

    • That isn't actually as insane an idea as it may sound. In climates where the outdoor temperature is lower than the body temperature you could theoretically convert a fraction of the thermal energy that flows out of the body into electricity. Of course, the second law of thermodynamics limit the efficiency of the conversion, so you wouldn't get a whole lot of energy out of it unless it was REALLY cold outside, so a battery or flexible solar cells in the fabric would probably be preferable.

      Then of course we h
  • I thought our politicians only saw it fit to buy decommissioned US junk, such as 30 year-old helicopters, and the odd fleet of dud tanks and fighter jets. Perhaps this is Howard's idea of renewable resources. Personally, I'd rather just put the grunts put to work in a more economic - imagine how much clean energy we could produce if we took our soldiers from the bloodbaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, and lined them up in a big grid of treadmill generators. We could put a picture of Kylie Minogue in front of th

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by Onetus (23797)

        and doesn't have any highly lucrative natural resources
        Actually we do. Our economy is based on exporting numerous resources to the world.
        Most of the exportable metals, plus coal, coal and more coal.
        We've also got the oil and natural gas reserves in Bass Strait.

        Oh and strangely enough Fosters beer. Why you overseas people drink it, we'll never understand.

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by z0idberg (888892)
          As well as 40% of the worlds uranium deposits.
        • Canada is more in this boat than the one described earlier.

          Alberta Oilsands (and many other oil projects), Potable Water, precious metals, etc. Seems like oil is popular these days and there are predictions that water will become more popular than oil in the future. Besides we need water to produce cold, crisp, canadian beer.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by Namors (934315)

        doesn't have any highly lucrative natural resources

        Well I wouldn't say that exactly
        http://www.australianminesatlas.gov.au/info/info.jsp [australian...las.gov.au]

        Australia has about 5% of the world's EDR of magnesite
        Australia has 10% of the worlds EDR of Iron ore
        Australia's EDR of industrial diamond 19% of the current World total
        Australia's 37% of of worlds EDR of Nickel

        The USGS estimate of World gold reserves of 42 000 t was similar to 2005 According to the USGS, South Africa still has the World's largest reserve of gold at 6000 t (14.3% a similar level as in 2005. Acco

  • Sounds like a great idea, perhaps. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by backbyter (896397) on Thursday November 01 2007, @04:46AM (#21194195)
    The extra weight of the clothing is offset by not having to carry the extra batteries. So it shouldn't place anymore weight on the troop. I know it's much more convenient for me to wear a loaded photographers vest than it is to carry the bag. Same weight, but the distribution of that weight on your shoulders feels much better at the end of the day.

    My concerns are these.

    What's this vest made of? If a trooper takes a bullet through the vest, what type of stuff from the vest is going to follow the bullet into the body?

    If this shirt is meant to be worn under armor then what impact does the constraint of being sandwiched between the body and the armor have on the overall effectiveness of the shirt?

    If the shirt is meant to be worn over the armor, is there any redundancy to the power generation when the shirt takes a hit? With batteries, the trooper could always ask a buddy for a spare battery. Asking for the shirt from your buddies back, in combat, would probably be looked on negatively.

  • Surely FRIED... (Score:5, Funny)

    by casley (111661) on Thursday November 01 2007, @05:11AM (#21194299)
    Come on... Flexible Rechargeable Integrated Energy Device is much better. I'd wear a fried shirt - wouldn't you?

  • Much better idea (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Colin Smith (2679) on Thursday November 01 2007, @05:13AM (#21194315)
    Build some solar cells into their helmets.

     

  • fremen (Score:3, Interesting)

    by rucs_hack (784150) on Thursday November 01 2007, @05:16AM (#21194327)
    Sooner or later this kind of tech is going to result in a stilsuit. Hope so anyway, those things are just too cool not to be instantiated.

    Seriously though, if we colonise mars, they will be more then interesting, they may well be essential.

    Frank Herbert had way more right than people realise. Except for the spice thing, but if I have this right, in his original musings on the story, spice wasn't as important, and it was Stilgar, not Paul Atraides who was to be the major character.
  • Let me guess... Nylon?
  • I know soldiers are going to be eager to strap F-IED's to their bodies.
  • If a soldier gets shot? What would typically be a bad flesh wound now has an electric battery system thrown in there as well...
  • Shock shirts: soldiers will _always_ obey their orders without any hesitation.
  • Now if we could only apply this principle in the office - imagine the potential power wasted by not harvesting all the hot air generated in meetings.
    • Then again, maybe they should not be investing in the army at all. Although I must admit that the idea is novel and cool. Perhaps integrate it with smart fabrics that allow changing the print/color of a t-shirt? Would be cool to wear in the disco (which I avoid like the plague, by the way). Welcome back eighties!

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by ShieldW0lf (601553)
      Having spent some time in the field wearing various uniforms, I have to say, the idea of wearing a bunch of plastic and metal fibers in the field doesn't sound very appealing. It sounds like a recipe for heat exhaustion.

      Are other energy sources really so inconvenient that this is justifiable?

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