Australian Army Invests in Electrical Shirts

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday October 31, 2007 @08:57PM from the shocking-sleeves dept.

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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Yeah, but... by amake · 2007-10-31 21:34 · Score: 5, Insightful

...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?"