Technology Description

While walking up to a half kilometer to his classes at MIT, Kranthi Vistakula relied on up to five layers of clothing to keep him warm during the Massachusetts winter. The bitter weather was only half the problem. The added bulk and continuous dressing and undressing were uncomfortable, cumbersome, and time consuming. ClimaGear was born out of this dissatisfaction during his studies of thermoelectric at MIT.

ClimaGear is a temperature regulating apparel technology that aids in the comfort of outdoor workers/enthusiasts and military personnel. By allowing them to choose the temperature that comforts them (warmth or coolness), they are able to remain in their harsh environment without adding stress, discomfort, health problems, or lost productivity.

The patent pending technology relies on a battery to power thermoelectric heat pumps that remove /add heat to and from the body. The uniqueness of the technology implements an electronic temperature control that allows user to select the temperature that comforts the user. It is mobile, quiet, lightweight, failure tolerant, easy to use, with no moving parts. This is quite different from current solutions, which include vapor compression, resistive heating, chemical reaction heating, electric variable resistive heating, and phase change materials; none of which can add heat and coolness.

Physical characteristics include:

• 20 cooling/heating points on the torso and arms with each having a cooling/heating area of 36 sq cm. This cooling/heating area is covering 80% of the torso
  
• Entire weight of the jacket including battery pack is 2.5 lbs. Average winter jacket weights around 1.6lbs.
  
• Batteries, which are embedded in a detachable belt last for 8 hours and can be recharged. The weight of the batteries is distributed on the body. The thickness of the belt holding batteries is 1.5 cm. The normal belt is around 0.5 cm.
  
• No floating wires or any thing that decreases the aesthetic and functional performance of the garment. The design is done keeping system completely closed
  
• 50ml of water needs to be recharged after four to five uses. The water carrying tubes have 2.2 mm outer diameter.

Mr. Vistakula intends to apply the technology to many types of apparel, including coats, jackets, pants, and helmets. A prototype jacket has been developed, with proof of performance measured at eight hours of use. A helmet prototype is also being developed. Future expected design improvements include added temperature sensors and controllers, condensation removal, and sweat/fabric comfort.

Potential Benefits of The Technology

ClimaGear allows the body's temperature to resume to an optimal level of comfort. When general comfort, performance, productivity, and safety are taken into consideration, ClimaGear should create great value for its customers, far beyond the technology should cost once mass produced and economies of scale are taken into consideration.

Contact details:

Mr.Kranthi Vistakula,
Dhama Apparel Innovations Pvt Ltd
Email: vkranthi7@gmail.com