PUSHING THE EDGE OF POWER
MUCH LIKE THE RESEARCH EFFORTS CURRENTLY EXPLORING INDIVIDUAL SOLDIER AND INSTALLATION TECHNOLOGIES,
THE S&T EMPHASIS ON GROUND AND AIR
patterns, training, tactics, techniques,
and procedures. Therefore, it is critical to understand how to design architec- tures that could allow us to identify and develop technologies able to advance a more modular approach to the appli- cation and distribution of operational energy. We might well find that maxi- mizing the energy efficiency or storage capacity of individual components might not be the most effective solution to pow- ering the battlefield.
THREE AREAS TO CONSIDER Army operational energy considerations are broadly categorized into three basic areas: the individual Soldier, basing, and vehicles (ground and air). On the Soldier, the key consideration is to reduce the load that he or she must carry. Batteries make up 16 to 25 percent of the Soldier’s load. Army S&T has a high-priority program to address how to decrease Soldier load; power management and architecture will be examined as a part of that solution.
For the base camp, there are a variety of efforts to improve power sources, use renewable sources, and reduce the power demands of the equipment. The devel- opment of micro-grid architecture that will allow for the effective use of sources and demands is considered a key part
56 of these efforts. (See related article on Page 72.)
In the area of vehicle power, mod- ernization
programs demonstrate
improved energy efficiency. S&T dem- onstration programs are underway to develop vehicle power architectures and corresponding
standards. Furthermore,
the Fuel Efficient Ground Vehicle Dem- onstrator (FED) program has given designers and scientists new insights into where energy is lost in vehicles, and is leading to a host of research efforts to minimize these losses. In Army aviation, technology development is closely coor- dinated among acquisition, S&T, other service partners, and other stakeholders, leading to significant energy efficiencies.
SOLDIER POWER The capabilities provided to the Ameri- can Soldier often require power. “Each Soldier has a different mission and there- fore has different power requirements. There is a huge range of needs that Sol- diers have by way of power,” explained Dr. Marilyn Freeman, Deputy Assis- tant Secretary of the Army for Research and Technology.
“We want to design a power solution that is modular and can accommodate
Current activities in Soldier Power, under the leadership of the Program Executive Office Soldier, have been focused on achieving ever-greater energy densities in power sources. The idea is to develop lighter-weight, smaller, more-easily transportable,
longer-lasting battery
technologies able to deliver sustained amounts of power more efficiently and with less operational burden. In an excel- lent example of “technology pull,” these metrics from the acquisition community have encouraged the Army’s scientists and engineers to develop new battery tech- nologies that are more energy-dense than their predecessors.
These higher-density batteries are achieved by studying different battery chemistries. Lithium ion batteries, used in many consumer electronic products such as computers and mobile handheld devices, have an excellent energy density and a slower loss of charge, compared
VEHICLE EXPLORATION IS GEARED TOWARD SYSTEM-LEVEL UNDERSTANDING.
these differences,” she said. “For the next generation of technologies to power the Soldier, we need to think about design- ing an entire system. A more modular approach for accommodating the indi- vidual dismounted Soldier, for instance, is needed to account for a broad range of often-changing power and energy needs.”
Army AL&T Magazine
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