VANCOUVER, BC. December 11, 2017 – Bionic Power has received a contract valued at CDN$1.16 million, under the Government of Canada’s Build in Canada Innovation Program (BCIP), to supply low-volume production units of its PowerWalk® Kinetic Energy Harvester to the Director of Land Requirements (DLR) and Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) for field testing with the Canadian Armed Forces. The Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Public Services and Procurement, announced the BCIP contracts on December 8 at the BC Tech Association Hub, in Vancouver.
Bionic Power will supply the units in early December, immediately following delivery of previously announced units entering field trials with the US Marine Corps and US Army. The Canadian Armed Forces will share trial results with Bionic Power as soon as field testing is finished, and this information will be available to other militaries looking to purchase harvesters.
“Having PowerWalk units in field tests with multiple military customers supports ongoing product refinement and prepares us for volume production. It also sends a clear signal that our target military customers have confidence in our product and its potential to reduce risks and costs and improve mission effectiveness,” says Yad Garcha, Bionic Power’s Chief Executive Officer. “Every customer has different requirements, from technical specs for batteries to the look of the camouflage. While we know we can deliver the product our customers ask for, they need to see and prove for themselves that our technology delivers.”
The PowerWalk is a light-weight, leg-mounted exoskeleton designed to accommodate a soldier’s full range of motion and harvest energy from the natural action of walking, in much the same way regenerative braking works in hybrid cars.
Military organizations around the world are looking for ways to improve soldier safety while lowering mission costs and risks. Wearing a PowerWalk harvester mitigates the need for extra batteries, reducing the weight a soldier carries while providing continuous life-saving power in the field. The PowerWalk also reduces or eliminates logistical tail challenges, results in a smaller environmental footprint, and can increase mission duration and effectiveness. All these features provide a compelling value proposition for military decision makers.
Canadian Armed Forces testing of Bionic Power’s PowerWalk device will take place in early 2018.
www.bionic-power.com
I’ll be curious as to how well this works. The energy has to come from somewhere. Regenerative braking in cars harvests energy and thereby slows the vehicle. Harvesting it from walking is gonna put drag against the walkers legs, possibly fatiguing the wear quicker.
Matt
I wonder if these will set us on fire like the comformal batteries CS-16 setup.
I’m the most open minded guy on earth when it comes to the adoption of new ideas and tech. However, when a military is as cash strapped as the Canada’s, perhaps it would be wise to ensure that you have enough night vision, boots that don’t fall apart, MODERN helmets and other items considered essential for a modern force.
Also….I’m not entirely sure what they plan on powering with this….radios/PVS-14? Most are carrying neither.
I totally agree, with the caveat that we don’t really know for sure what they’re planning. And really, in the grand scheme of things, 1.16 million CAD (0.91 million USD as of today) isn’t going to make THAT much of a difference in the pool of military funding. Obviously that’s going to be a larger percentage of Canada’s defense budget than ours, but still not likely to shake the ship very much. We also shouldn’t be surprised if that spending directly contributes to US adoption of the technology in some fashion, further down the road, likely limited to the SOF community.
I’m the most open minded guy on earth when it comes to the adoption of new ideas and tech. However, when a military is as cash strapped as the Canada’s, perhaps it would be wise to ensure that you have enough night vision, boots that don’t fall apart, MODERN helmets and other items considered essential for a modern force.
Also….I’m not entirely sure what they plan on powering with this….radios/PVS-14? Most are carrying neither.