The Pentagon is offering a $1 million top prize for a new breed of ultralight electric power system that could be carried by gizmo-laden combat troops - and perhaps someday by backpackers, tailgaters and medical workers as well. The Wearable Power Prize Competition, unveiled this week, follows in the footsteps of other contests aimed at pushing the limits of innovation - including the Ansari X Prize for spaceflight, NASA's Centennial Challenges and the Pentagon's own DARPA Grand Challenge.
This latest Pentagon challenge is part of a series authorized by Congress last year to encourage innovations that would be valuable to the military. In this case, the innovation would ease a weighty burden: all the batteries that modern warfighters have to carry around with them to power their walkie-talkies, night-vision devices, GPS locators, etc., etc.
U.S. Army |
| The Future Force Warrior program is developing a new generation of combat gizmos that will require a steady supply of electrical power. |
"We've seen weights that go up to 40 pounds for a four-day mission, just for their batteries," William S. Rees, Jr., the deputy undersecretary of defense for laboratories and basic sciences, told me today. "If we can go from 40 pounds down to less than 10 pounds, that's a big deal."
The competition calls for the development of wearable systems that weigh no more than 8.8 pounds (4 kilograms) but can produce 20 watts average power for four days straight. The systems would have to provide peak power of 200 watts for short periods.
Not even the Energizer Bunny can pull off that feat today.
"At this moment, we haven't seen an ability using currently available battery technology to meet what we're asking for," Rees said.
The Pentagon has been working on this problem for years, which leads Rees to think that it will take a completely different approach to win the prize. It may be a mini-generator powered by compressed gas, or a solar-powered vest, or a miniature fuel cell or an electricity-generating backpack. "We're open to anything, as long as it fits the requirements," Rees said.
One caution, though: The top systems will have to be tested under real-world conditions during a "wear-off" to be scheduled in October or November 2008. And you can't expect a soldier to be jumping up and down for 96 hours straight.
"If you have to stay awake for 48 hours in order for it to work, that might be a downside," Rees quipped.
The Department of Defense is planning a public information forum in September to brief potential competitors on the details, and entrants will have to register by Nov. 30. Rees hopes the competitors will include some nontraditional players in the military procurement game - such as university and high-school students, workshop tinkerers and even Girl Scout troops. "That'd be a neat thing," he said.
The prize program's Web site lays out the complete rules (PDF file) as well as the potential rewards: $1 million for first place, $500,000 for second and $250,000 for third.
The biggest prize could come afterward, through the commercialization of the innovations that are developed. The Pentagon hopes those innovations will be integrated into wearable power vests for the troops, of course, but the applications needn't end there, Rees said.
"I could certainly see a myriad of commercial applications in the civilian sector from our mission-specific investment," he said. Rees, who likes to go backpacking during his time off, said he wouldn't mind buying a power pack himself.
"If you were going to go, let's say, hiking on the Appalachian Trail and you wanted to take your MP3 player along with you for three or four days, you might not want to take along the batteries," he said. Why stop at the MP3 player? How about taking along a compact TV or a wireless laptop?
Here are some of the other potential uses Rees came up with:
- Electric hibachi grills for tailgating at sporting events or picnics. "Think of the Fourth of July on the Mall," Rees said. "If this were affordable enough, you could have thousands of these out on the mall."
- Power-generating backpacks for search-and-rescue workers in rugged terrain.
- Power vests for hunting and fishing enthusiasts.
- Emergency power generators for underground miners.
- Carry-along power for medical technicians or ambulance teams. "Imagine folks walking around in the hospital - you could run a significant number of electronic gadgets," Rees said.
Who knows what entrepreneurs chasing after a million dollars will come up with? Collectively, the entrants chasing an innovation incentive prize tend to spend far more than the value of the prize itself. The format offers a comparatively cheap way to get lots of people working on a technological challenge, and that's why federal officials (including those looking for energy breakthroughs) are increasingly sold on the prize process.
Rees, at least, is clearly sold - and he's just getting started.
"Stay tuned," he told me. "This isn't the only one we'll be doing. We're going to be doing more of them. Keep your antenna up."
When it comes to military innovations with potential civilian uses. what would be on your personal radar screen? Feel free to leave your suggestions below.