The hottest insole generates electricity and urine

Insole power generation, urine charging: in order to power electronic equipment, the U.S. military has made great efforts to invent

the U.S. military claims to be armed to the teeth, but the equipment at this end will face an embarrassing problem in practical use - power supply

including night vision devices, helmet lights and transmitters (connected individual radio stations), all need batteries, which is only helmets. The rest, such as handheld GPS, laser rangefinder, rifle mounted laser indicator, IFF signal lights, various radio stations and intelligent terminals, all need large and small batteries to supply power

according to the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, a soldier carries as many as 70 batteries to maintain the operation of his electronic equipment during a normal 72 hour mission in Afghanistan

and these batteries are very heavy. For example, a battery for radio station an/prc-117 weighs 1.8kg. However, such a battery will not last long. If you want to meet the operational needs, the average battery that each soldier needs to carry may reach 9kg

in addition, such batteries are quite expensive. An infantry battalion spends more than 150000 dollars on batteries every year. The high cost also makes the U.S. military cry poverty. After all, the landlords have no surplus food these days

therefore, solving the power supply problem of the increasingly complex soldier system has become a difficult problem for the U.S. military. In recent years, some research institutions of the army have also appeared many solutions to this problem

the sole that generates electricity by walking can also be positioned

according to the army times, recently, the U.S. Army is cooperating with robot research to design a sole with built-in sensors, so that the wearer can generate electricity every step of the way

specifically, when a soldier's heel pushes the sole down, the force will hit a micro rotating horizontal structure and drive a small generator to generate electricity

Nathan Sharpes, a mechanical engineer at the U.S. Army c5isr center, is the inventor of this patent. He said, "we have embedded an energy collection device in the inner sole of the combat boot heel, so that when the soldier's heel is impacted, it will activate the generator, and the generator rotates to generate energy."

this technology can not only provide power, but also allow commanders to track soldiers without GPS. Robot Research LLC, which participated in this project, is an industry-leading supplier of automation and robotics. Recently, the company won a contract worth $16.5 million from the U.S. Army to use self-developed warloc technology to develop this device

walking for an hour, charging four pants

charging by walking is not a recent idea. As early as 2016, the U.S. Marine Corps was testing a new kind of pants - "powerwalk", which can provide power at any time. This device is very light and can obtain energy from the natural action of walking after being installed on the legs

the working principle of this device is to use a gearbox to convert the rotational speed of the knee into a higher rotational speed, while the generator converts the mechanical power into electrical energy, and then a "advanced power conversion" circuit charges the electrical energy into lithium-ion or nickel metal hydride batteries

according to the test, users can generate power with an efficiency of 10 to 12 watts when wearing the device. After walking for an hour, they can generate enough power to charge four smart phones

there is no fixed mode in the structure of the fixture for the experimental machine. According to different samples and the size of the experimental force, there are great differences in the structure Noel Soto, a U.S. Army Systems Engineer at the center for development and engineering, said, "if a soldier can generate energy through wearable energy collection devices, it means that we can not only reduce his load, but also reduce the army's dependence on logistical supplies, so that we can extend the duration and effectiveness of the mission."

the urine is charged, and the discharged water can even be drunk.

if the above technology can solve the problem of walking charging, what if it is a Scout or sniper who needs to hide for a long time

an accidental discovery seems to solve this problem. In the Aberdeen Laboratory of Aberdeen Proving Ground, researchers found that an aluminum based powder will release hydrogen after contacting with water. In the hydrogen fuel cell, hydrogen can be decomposed into protons and electrons. Protons pass through the film and generate positive charges at the other end of the circuit. Electrons pass through the circuit to supply power to electrical equipment

this powder is a "structurally stable aluminum based nano zinc alloy", said Dr. Annet Kiri, a materials scientist at the Army Research Laboratory at Aberdeen test base. "Using the generated hydrogen, American soldiers can 'generate electricity on demand' with simple operation, which is very useful for the power supply of individual soldier equipment"

more importantly, this power supply method is very cheap and "environmental friendly". Of course, the focus of environmental protection is that the waste produced by this power supply method is only water, that is to say, it will hardly leave any traces that are easy to be detected, so it is also very beneficial for stealth operations. U.S. Army experts even said that when soldiers' urine is fully mixed with batteries, the waste water discharged can even be directly drunk by soldiers

compared with charging methods, the military is more looking forward to new batteries

in order to solve the problem, in addition to emerging charging technologies, the military of various countries also focus on developing batteries with higher efficiency and lower weight, such as fuel cells

the research and development of fuel cell can be traced back to 50 years ago. It has been used as a light power source in many military equipment. The attraction of fuel cell is that its output power is high but its weight is relatively small

at the same time, in the process of converting chemical energy of fuel (such as hydrogen) into electrical energy, only heat and water are produced, without releasing toxic gases and adverse effects on the environment. It is a safe means of power generation; Compared with traditional power generation equipment, fuel cells have the characteristics of low noise, safety and cleanliness, low thermal characteristics and high combustion efficiency. Compared with carrying a large number of batteries, using fuel cells can greatly reduce the load

there are also many projects involving fuel cells in the armies of various countries, including the British "future infantry soldier technology" single soldier system and the army "rapid response system (FR to provide sufficient capacity es)". Various U.S. military agencies (such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the army Energy Agency fuel cell team) have also carried out relevant research on the portable and vehicle mounted fuel cells used in the "Land Warrior" system

the US military is also exploring the use of methanol as the future battery energy. Mtimicro fuel cell company counts 2 The hydraulic oil should be replaced regularly to provide methanol fuel cells to the U.S. military. The mobion-30m battery parts of the company, together with two kinds of methanol fuel, can meet the power required by a single soldier for 72 hours of operation, which is equivalent to nine ba5590 batteries, and the weight is only half of the latter