ElectriPlast: DOD Sponsors Innovation Competition

Tapping the Innovative Spirit of

Private Industry

By: PK
ElectriPlast Blog (EB)
Publisher

[Publisher's Note: Since Integral Technologies already has a head start in the area of thin conductive lightweight composites, why not develop a battery pack and compete for the DOD One Million Dollar Prize?]


DOD's Enticement to the world's Engineers and Inventors

The concept for this editorial came from a fellow ElectriPlast Blog reader from the great state of Arizona. A few days ago, he sent me a question regarding a Department of Defense (DOD) contest he had heard about on CNN. The DOD contest asked for the creation of a new, thin, long-lasting, lightweight battery pack to replace the bulky 40 plus pounds of batteries, rechargers, and power generators carried by ground-based war fighters today to power their various technical/tactical systems -- and the DOD is willing to pay up to a million dollars for this wearable creation.

The DoD says "...typical soldier going out for a four-day mission carries as much as 40 pounds of batteries and rechargers in his pack and it wants to fix that. The goal is to reduce the weight for the power system that drives radios, night-vision devices, global positioning systems and other combat gear, including a recharging system, to about 2 pounds per day. The DoD is looking to mimic the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency which has experienced successes using contests to attract competitors to develop innovative unmanned vehicles and other objects. Now the Defense Research and Engineering Office is hoping to tap into that same competitive spirit to develop longer-duration, lighter-weight power supplies. Three prizes will be awarded in November 2008: $1 million, $500,000 and $250,000."

I was struck by the similarities to a story I wrote a year and a half ago that covered a similar concept based on ElectriPlast advances in the area of battery power.


Supporting Troops with light weight, thin, wearable technology.

To my senses, the DOD contest and ElectriPlast seem like a good fit. Who knows--should Integral choose to accept this challenge--with minor adjustments to a patented ElectriPlast battery by Tom Aisenbrey, Integral Technologies and Jasper Rubber Co. could very well become a lead contender for this wearable noteworthy prize. Taking it a step further, maybe Tom might even be able to create an augmenting device which somehow captures the energy generated by the soldiers normal movements (much like a self-winding watch), using that as a means to recharge the battery.


The Positive side of Winning, or even Meeting the Challenge...

There is the possibility of not only a DOD contract, but the potential that the Energizer Bunny and the other manufacturers might be compelled to visit Jasper!

[EB Editor Vince S. contributed to this article.]