Who needs USB battery packs? This is better....

[Marvin the Martian]

The PowerWalk system looks like an athletic knee brace and weighs about 1.7 pounds. The braces generate about 12 watts of electricity when the user walks at a normal pace; an hour's walk can apparently produce enough juice to recharge four cell phones.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-...er-leg-braces/

[The DarkSide]

Oh boy,...I don't know what to say about this one. I'll pass,...but it's different.

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by The DarkSide

Oh boy,...I don't know what to say about this one. I'll pass,...but it's different.

I think I would feel silly walking around with it, but the idea or getting electricity from kinetic energy like this is pretty clever, I think.

[The DarkSide]

They have a boot bound one in development,...so putting a pack on your boots w/wires might be more realistic for some. I'll stick w/a battery pack meself.

[JK98]

No price is given. I guess it is very expensive?

[The DarkSide]

Originally Posted by JK98

No price is given. I guess it is very expensive?

Considering its being worked on and discussed for military usage I think it'll cost an arm and a generator leg,...

[Mo. FryDaddy]

I'll wager that they'll have generator arms and a generator horse leg one soon too! You know, for lights on your horse!

[Jack4L]

Uhm, ooh, yeah- not going to be worth the chafing that might cause

[sideways]

I don't see this going over all too well with troops. You are adding fixed weight to the basic fighting package. Troops hate that, I mean I very much doubt this is the kind of thing you take off before you enter a firefight. So you have guys who are already humping a lot of gear and you throw this thing into the mix slowing them down even more.

If that thing can power several mobile phones it's going to increase the resistance on troops, you dont create power from nothing. And the power they are generating, what happens to surplus power? Is it wasted? Run out of juice in the coms, go for a jog? Not exactly ideal in a firefight. Why not just have a have an ultralight, ultra compact manual charging pump of some sort, and a solar panel as a backup to the general use batterypack?

Most troops these days are some form of mounted infantry. They have support vehicles. Duty involves either grabbing and holding an objective, where the device is clumsy, or doing vehicle patrols, where it is unnecessary. Target reconnaissance missions? Walking around is counterproductive. I suppose it might make sense for unsupported specialist who are moving around alot and during unsupported footpatrols. That sort of thing is pretty rare these days isn't it? Correct me if I'm wrong.

[JSV]

...an hour's walk can apparently produce enough juice to recharge four cell phones.

But you'll feel like you've been walking two hours...