---
title: "The Army Wants to Generate Electricity Inside Soldiers’ Boots"
description: "An Army research center patented bizarre boots that generates electricity every time a soldier takes a step, giving them a new way to power their gear."
date: "2019-12-20"
modified: "2019-12-20"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/army-generate-electricity-soldiers-boots"
categories:
  - "Energy"
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "energy"
  - "military technology"
  - "the digest"
  - "wearables"
---

# The Army Wants to Generate Electricity Inside Soldiers’ Boots

![An Army research center patented bizarre boots that generates electricity every time a soldier takes a step, giving them a new way to power their gear.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/army-boots-generate-electricity.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Kenny Holston\</em\>*

## Portable Batteries

The U.S. Army has some wacky ideas to keep soldiers' [futuristic gear](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/us-military-augmented-human-beings>) working, even when they're far away from the nearest outlet.

To keep their gear juiced up, researchers at the Army's C5ISR Center patented a bizarre new portable generator that can fit inside a soldier's boot, *[Army Times ](<https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2019/12/19/how-the-army-wants-to-use-your-boots-to-generate-juice-and-keep-tabs-on-you/>)*[reports](<https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2019/12/19/how-the-army-wants-to-use-your-boots-to-generate-juice-and-keep-tabs-on-you/>). Every time a soldier takes a step, their foot triggers a small mechanism that creates a small electrical charge — not big enough to solve the energy crisis, but perhaps enough to keep personal electronics running.

## Leg Day

The weird power-boots are just the first step in the military's plan to turn soldiers into walking battery packs, per *Army Times*. Army researchers are also trying to build kinetic energy harvesters into high-tech knee braces and backpacks as well.

But some of these devices are actually making soldiers' lives worse. For instance, the backpack only harvested energy when it was loose-fitting and able to bounce around — making it cumbersome to carry.

**READ MORE:** [How the Army wants to use your boots to generate juice (and keep tabs on you)](<https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2019/12/19/how-the-army-wants-to-use-your-boots-to-generate-juice-and-keep-tabs-on-you/>) \[*Army Times*\]

**More on military tech:** *[The U.S. Army Is Using Virtual Reality Combat to Train Soldiers](<https://futurism.com/army-soldiers-vr-combat-training>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)