Researchers have designed a prototype of a high-tech load-suspended backpack that promises to reduce the load you feel while carrying it around in addition to charging your electronic devices.

Some load reduction would be a welcome relief on longer walks - Image Credit: MarcosFernandez via Shutterstock / HDR tune by Universal-Sci

Battery technology has not kept up with our addiction to mobile devices. The fear of running out of battery and having nowhere to charge your phone is a real issue for a growing number of people. It even has a name: Nomophobia. Even the flagship mobile devices that boast a standby time of up to several days will demolish a battery in less than a day under heavy use. Our mobile devices have become essential to our everyday lives, but when we are going about our daily business or enjoying the countryside, we do not always have access to a power supply.

To overcome these battery life problems, many of us resort to carrying mobile battery packs so that we can charge on the go. However, these mobile chargers add weight and take up precious space in our backpacks. If you have ever walked for an extended period with a full backpack, you will know the soreness and chaffing that can occur, so every bit of weight and space saved is a bonus.

Researchers Zhong Lin Wang, Jia Cheng, and their colleagues have designed a prototype load-suspended backpack that promises to solve both problems. Utilizing wasted energy that comes with human motion, it supposedly helps reduce the pain associated with carrying a heavy load while charging your devices in the meantime.

There have already been backpack designs aimed at military and outdoor adventurers that either generate power from the wearer’s movements or reduce the effective load on their body, but this is the first time both features have been incorporated into one backpack; in addition, the researchers claim that their load-suspended backpack power production is significantly higher than its competitors.

Two so-called elastomers (a type of polymer with viscoelasticity, meaning both viscosity and elasticity) are integrated into the backpack to dissociate the simultaneous movement of the load and the human body, resulting in minor to zero extra accelerative force. With this construction, through field experiments and theoretical analysis, the backpack can achieve a reduction of 28.75 % in the vertical oscillation of the load and 21.08 % in the vertical force on the wearer, respectively.

An image of the prototype (click to enlarge) - Image Credit: Adapted from ACS Nano 2021, DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c07498

The prototype designers stated in a press release that, in practice, their backpack reduces the load felt by the wear on each step by 20% and generates power at 14% efficiency. Zhong Lin Wang confirms the backpack can currently power LED lights and charge small, low-power electronics like a smartwatch. With some planned improvements to the system, the team expects to increase the power generation efficiency enough to also power larger devices such as smartphones and other GPS-enabled gadgets.

Once on the market, these backpacks will not only make carrying belongings around more comfortable and keeping devices powered up for consumers, but they will also be a valuable piece of kit for military and rescue workers, allowing them to carry more equipment and keep vital tools like GPS, torches, radios, and other essential devices charged.

If you are interested in learning more about the technology behind the load-suspended backpack, be sure to check out the paper listed below. The publication comes with some additional supporting information in the form of videos.

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