DHS gives batteries a jolt
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Potential use cases
Under the initial DHS vision, the thin-battery technology would be integrated into personal-protection equipment (PPE) — suits and garments — worn by first responders, so that they "would not have to carry these heavy batteries with them and constantly come back and have to recharge those every 15-20 minutes," Mapar said.
"If this becomes a layer within your PPE, then we can run leads and a couple of wires and send it through a little device that would do your power management for you. From there, you could distribute the power to your radio, to the PASS device, to the location-tracking device, to the physiological-monitoring device, to your temperature sensor, to even stuff that you might have in your heads-up display in your helmet."
Having such a readily available power supply on a first responder through wearable battery technology opens many new technological possibilities that otherwise would not be considered. For instance, various technologies allow each individual user to act as a router in an ad-hoc mesh network, but the potential battery drain on the mobile devices supporting that functionality is a major concern. The DHS thin-battery solution could alleviate that problem and allow the use of multiple sensor technologies — from physiological monitors to environmental temperature gauges.
Mapar points to another DHS project — the firefighter-location solution known as GLANSER — as a prime example.
"Because of the wireless mesh network embedded within [GLANSER], all of a sudden, I've got network connectivity." Mapar said. "I can tell where you are inside a building, I can give the incident commander a quick status of their physiological health, and all require energy/power, and I can generate that through the thin battery that we're [developing].
"If the user wants to see that information — and see the most important information that he needs to get an idea of his surroundings/situational awareness — I can pump it through the heads-up display, so that's how all these pieces are connected."
In addition to a user-level power supply, Flexel envisions other larger uses, Proctor said.
"We also see it as a material that could be used, from a homeland-security perspective, in emergency-medical-tent linings. So, when you deployed the tent, the power was integrated and — potentially, with LEDs — the lighting was integrated, which means you have a full operating theater much, much faster.
"We also know that you can make it into a checkerboard of batteries, where you fold them in one direction to add voltage and fold them in another direction to add capacity, so you can kind of make a configurable battery that way."
With the flexible form factor, the thin-battery technology could be used in a variety of ways. For example, it could be integrated into the body armor of a soldier or first responder, into a belt or wristband, or into the skin of a prosthetic, Proctor said. The company already has received a request to integrate the power supply into a mouthpiece, so potentially concussive impacts can be measured, he said.
The big question is how much
The big question is how much heat will the batteries produce and tolerate in various scenarios? We have seen HT, cell phone and flashlight batteries overheat, burn and even explode. If a firefighter’s PPE shorts out, starts smoking or explodes when exposed to extreme heat one can’t exactly drop it. There is also the question of consumption Vs. readiness. One can replace AA batteries between shifts or assignments, but how does one have faith in the value of the charge left within sewn in batteries? At the least one would need a meter to check voltage and values plus report PPE fitness to a Safety Officer on a regular basis. And above all, should one find their PPE battery low, how easy will it be to immediately swap out dead PPE for new during an active incident? What if stores is or runs out of various sizes? Then there is the issue of approved agency and personnel ID/markings that must be transferred from dead PPE to new. BTW, have they found a way to vapor seal the batteries against setting of a gas or dust explosion? Needless to say, UL, NFPA and ASTM are going to have a ball throwing every test imaginable at these puppies!