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MIT man says wireless power is coming

MIT man says wireless power is coming

Could you be recharging this wirelessly soon?

A researcher at the Michigan Institute of Technology, the foremost tech geek lab in the States, says that wireless recharging of devices could be closer than we think to a reality.

Marin Soljacic, who is working on power induction, says that "a power transmitter would fill the space around it with a non-radiative electromagnetic field," rather than projecting a particular signal to a particular device. The characteristics of induced power are such that transmitting power point-to-point is not possible, but emitting an electromagnetic field around a base is definitely do-able.

This means that rather than having wireless chargers for each device, a common standard 'power emitter' could be placed in each room, and devices within the radius of the emitter would get charged. Any 'spare' power being emitted could be re-absorbed back by the emitter device.

There's some interesting detail over at Tom's Hardware. Do you think we could actually have a future for wireless power, or would it just give us all radiation poisoning? Let us know your thoughts over in the forums.

32 Comments

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DougEdey 16th November 2006, 11:43 Quote
I liked his reasoning behind it "I didn't like my devices to be recharged where I couldn't use them"
specofdust 16th November 2006, 11:44 Quote
I'll believe it when I can buy it. Wireless power has been attempted for years and no-ones managed it thus far.
Garside 16th November 2006, 12:37 Quote
Have to say this is brilliant. Wonder how much train companies will charge to use their recharge service!
specofdust 16th November 2006, 12:42 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by MIT guy
"a power transmitter would fill the space around it with a non-radiative electromagnetic field,"

The "would" there is extremely important. Just cos they're theorising new ways of doing wireless power don't mean it's about to happen. Like I said, people have been trying it for years, many theories have been made, so far nothings come of any of 'em.
Swafeman 16th November 2006, 12:55 Quote
specofdush your so sceptical :p

wireless pads have already been created, if you'd been paying any attention, you stick your phone on it and itll charge your battery, not sure if you can buy them in this country yet, but theyve been made, and they work, its just over short distances, but its half way there
Buzzons 16th November 2006, 13:27 Quote
Garside GNER don't charge for using their plugs on the trains, so meh
DougEdey 16th November 2006, 13:33 Quote
Swafeman: Nothing like this at all. This does not require contact, the other ones rely on close proximity to induce a current.

There already have been "invisible" cables where the ground is used as a ground and power has been transmitted, the problem is that it requires a larger amount of power then is feasible.
Confused Fishcake 16th November 2006, 13:34 Quote
http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=109974&highlight=inductance

Damn right wireless power works. :D 12V 1A at the charger will charge 2 2600mah batteries in 2 hours. If someone professional tried this, I'm sure they'd get much better results.
Paradigm Shifter 16th November 2006, 13:37 Quote
It's "Massachusetts Institute of Technology" not Michigan.

http://www.mit.edu
CarlT2001 16th November 2006, 13:47 Quote
The sooner the better. I hate all cables with a passion.
kempez 16th November 2006, 13:54 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paradigm Shifter
It's "Massachusetts Institute of Technology" not Michigan.

http://www.mit.edu

You know I though that and thought I must be being thick or something!
Spearhead 16th November 2006, 14:38 Quote
id love this if it worked, currently ive got no power sockets in my room or in my lounge (i moved into a shack basicaly :( ), so wireless charging would just be amazing for me :D
Godboy_g 16th November 2006, 15:35 Quote
Didn't Nikola Tesla come up with a way to transmit power wirelessly? I think I remember reading an article about how he powered a car in this way.
calking13 16th November 2006, 15:53 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by kempez
You know I though that and thought I must be being thick or something!

easy mistake, that happens. Although there is a MIAT in Michigan.

Michigan Insitute of Aviation and Technology
trailblazer 16th November 2006, 16:03 Quote
How about this, in the early 1950,s a soviet listening device was found in the American embassy in Moscow (later displayed by the American ambassador in 1960). It was found in the emblem of the Great Seal of the United States above the ambassadors desk. At first western experts were baffled as to how the device worked because it had no batteries or electrical circuits. Peter Wright of Britains MI5 discovered how it worked and a copy (codename Satyr) was produced. A radio beam was aimed from outside the building, the power from this signal was used by the device as a power source.
Tyinsar 16th November 2006, 16:08 Quote
Tesla would be happy (or feel that someone had ripped off one of his ideas yet again)

I, on the other hand, don't like the idea of yet more unseen things with poorly tested effects beaming through my body.
Confused Fishcake 16th November 2006, 16:43 Quote
Why are you all so worried about negative effects? All the designs I have seen are just a transformer with an air-gap - all energy is "transmitted" magnetically. Unless you believe that magnetic bracelets etc work, you have nothing to worry about.
Tyinsar 16th November 2006, 17:51 Quote
I don't Know that all the radio & microwave signals that we have around us (& through us) today have any measurable detrimental effects but at the same time I'm just not comfortable with the idea of even more.
jezmck 16th November 2006, 19:22 Quote
Wireless KBs/Mice could become much friendlier.
Quote:
Any 'spare' power being emitted could be re-absorbed back by the emitter device.
But how efficient could this be? I'm trying to reduce my power consumption.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paradigm Shifter
It's "Massachusetts Institute of Technology" not Michigan...
That's what I was thinking.
HourBeforeDawn 16th November 2006, 19:32 Quote
well what about this?
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/wec.shtml
it works well you just dont want to be in between the invisible beam or else you might smell somthing cooking lol
trailblazer 16th November 2006, 19:39 Quote
I like the "WARNING" covers just about everything including "living things" !!
Carbonphiber 16th November 2006, 20:29 Quote
If anyone is interested, there's a similar article published in an MIT paper called Tech Talk found here:

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/techtalk-info.html

Just download the current issue.
Tyinsar 16th November 2006, 21:05 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by HourBeforeDawn
well what about this?
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/wec.shtml
As trailblazer says, that is indeed quite the warning:
Quote:
Originally Posted by ThinkGeek warning
...do not put ... electrical equipment, food, liquids, paper, glass, flammable substances, magnets, or living things in between the base and satellite units. Just in case.
Glass?
MrWillyWonka 16th November 2006, 21:08 Quote
Hmm, although it would be a nice idea, what about pacemakers and cochlear implants etc which are sensitive to electrical interference, we don't want people suddenly dropping dead :o.

Or would the "non-radiative electromagnetic field" statement be my answer?
r4tch3t 16th November 2006, 22:05 Quote
No No, the batteries in the pace makers would be charged too. As for the WEC, I want one. How much power can it transmit?
I think this would be a good idea, like the laptop wireless points having wireless power too, so no vandalism of the power sockets, would just be a desk.
speedfreek 16th November 2006, 22:56 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by HourBeforeDawn
well what about this?
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/wec.shtml
it works well you just dont want to be in between the invisible beam or else you might smell somthing cooking lol
beat me to it. :D

I like the idea of not having to plug in my phone anymore, everything else can be wireless but I doubt we will see anything like this anytime soon. I also wonder about the efficiency of this and how much it will affect its surroundings.
DeX 16th November 2006, 23:25 Quote
The main point of the whole theory is this idea is that power can be transmitted wirelessly without wasting it while it is not being used. Wireless power is not new but because of the fact that electromagnetic induction wastes energy into the atmosphere and other surrounding objects it requires a rediculous amount of power to transmit the power over a significant distance.

Whether we will see this technology power our phones, cameras, headphones, speakers, keyboards, mice the moment they are within range depends on two things. Firstly the technology has to work as the theory says it does (frankly seems a little implausible to me). Secondly it has to be efficient enough that running a few wireless power devices doesn't significantly increase energy bills. I would imagine that even if it requires 10 times the energy to charge your phone wirelessly vs using a cable you probably wouldn't notice. But if you wanted to power your big 7.1 surround sound speaker system wirelessly it would probably make a big difference to your bills.

I think given these conditions, something like this has a massive chance of success. It's like when the CCD became available everyone realised the big potential for digital cameras. With the increasing demand the technology got better which increased demand further. That's what can happen if a new technology realises it's potential. Even so it took about 30 years to develop into something that could be used comercially. And remember, they haven't even built a working model yet. So I'd estimate we wouldn't see this kind of thing in portable size devices for at least 20-30 years. This may seem like a long time but think how long people have been working to create minature fuel cells.
saeghwin 16th November 2006, 23:59 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by DougEdey
Swafeman: Nothing like this at all. This does not require contact, the other ones rely on close proximity to induce a current.

There already have been "invisible" cables where the ground is used as a ground and power has been transmitted, the problem is that it requires a larger amount of power then is feasible.

Like in "The Prestige"? :D

I've been wondering if this was at all possible for a while. I never did any searches to see if it had been researched yet or not though, so this is very interesting. I've always wondered how much energy is inside the radio waves being broadcasted around the world and into space. Is there no way to just have a machine that picks them up and converts them into usable electrical power?
Firehed 17th November 2006, 03:26 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by specofdust
I'll believe it when I can buy it. Wireless power has been attempted for years and no-ones managed it thus far.
Batteries?

Of course, I'd like proper wireless power a bit better.

HourBeforeDawn, you a DGW listener too? I was looking to post the same thing :D
r4tch3t 17th November 2006, 08:44 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by Firehed
Batteries?

Of course, I'd like proper wireless power a bit better.
Well actually, I would still like batteries, as what happens when you move out of the power grid? sudden lost of power. Batteries would still be a must.
Evenge 18th November 2006, 12:24 Quote
Wireless power... handy
B3CK 19th November 2006, 04:07 Quote
Ha, wireless, electric lawnmower, that the antenna is plugged into my neighbors outdoor power socket. Howdy neighbor!
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