Can soldiers use their own movement, marching to charge the batteries they carry? The Army’s working on it

By: Todd South

Scientists with the Army's communications and electronic research group are looking to the soldier's own footsteps, and other means, to potentially increase battery life and lighten the load for increasingly tech-laden troops.

Army researchers are forecasting that the battery load for a dismounted soldier could double by 2025, given the need for more sophisticated and powerful electronic systems being used by soldiers.

That load currently runs from 15 to 25 pounds for a three-day mission, no small amount when every ounce counts, and soldiers will strip rations and cut a toothbrush handle to save weight.

New battery and power requirements could come from augmented reality equipment and the more sophisticated Next Generation Squad Weapon program, which will add new targeting capabilities to the soldier's rifle but also need power that's not there now.

Julianne Douglas, the Energy Harvest lead with the Army's Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center said in an Army release that the “added weight means soldiers can get fatigued much more easily, are more susceptible to injury and are less able to maneuver nimbly.”

Full article: https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/09/06/can-soldiers-use-their-own-movement-marching-to-charge-the-batteries-they-carry-the-armys-working-on-it