TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif., 22 Sept. 2008. Leaders of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) are bringing together some of the world's foremost developers of battery systems in a competition that starts today to identify and promote the most promising wearable power technologies for long-endurance, lightweight power systems for foot soldiers.
The competition will be at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif. -- a vast installation in the Mojave Desert region east of Los Angeles. The Pentagon's Department of Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E) office will pit 48 teams against one another for the $1 million Wearable Power Prize that will culminate Oct. 4 during a head-to-head competition.
DDR&E launched the competition last year by offering a $1 million first prize for a wearable system that provides an average of 20 Watts of electrical power for 96 hours, weighs less than 8.8 pounds, attaches to a standard military vest, and operates autonomously.
A total of 169 teams registered to compete, which as been reduced to 48 finalists. Each team leader is a U.S. citizen, but teams have members representing 15 countries. Teams check in today at the Twentynine Palms Marine base, and will power-up their systems Sept. 28 for a 92-hour power-draining bench test outdoors.
The final wear-off field test for the teams that survive the bench test will be Oct. 4 in a four-hour field test competition. More information is online at www.dod.mil/ddre/prize/.
