Designing an electric tent that can power itself

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-08-01 01:00

International

Photo by Hichem Meghachou on Unsplash

International researchers are developing a tent that can supply electricity it harnesses from the environment around it, in a project they hope could one day provide a more liveable environment for people without homes. The tent uses a phenomenon called magnetoelasticity to convert movement in the tent material caused by outside influences - including human movement, wind and rain - into energy. The researchers say this process can harness enough energy to power small electronic devices, which could allow people living off-grid or in tents as a form of temporary shelter to have a higher quality of life without relying on external power sources.

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Journal/
conference: Matter

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of California, USA

Funder: J.C. acknowledges the Vernroy Makoto Watanabe Excellence in Research Award at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award (award ID: N00014-24-1-2065), National Institutes of Health Grant (award IDs: R01 CA287326 and R01 HL175135), Q8 National Science Foundation Grant (award number: 2425858), the American Heart Association Innovative Project Award (award ID: 23IPA1054908), the American Heart Association Transformational Project Award (award ID: 23TPA1141360), and the American Heart Association’s Second Century Early Faculty Independence Award (award ID: 23SCEFIA1157587).

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