It just boggles my mind when I find myself surrounded by the spaghetti of wires in this age of technology. Why do we need to plug all of our gadgets and appliances to the power sockets attached on the walls? To do so, we need to keep the appliances closer to the power sockets which limit our options to arrange our rooms according to our wishes. And that must hurt the ‘interior decorator’ in us. I always thought that why can’t we simply take the clues from the telecommunication industry that has succeeded to become wireless to a significant extent.
So one day I came across a segment
on Richard Quest’s show on CNN ‘QUEST MEANS BUSINES’. The segment featured a
company named ‘WiTricity’ that is involved in the innovation of wireless electricity.
I straightaway browsed their website (www.witricity.com) and gathered the
following details:
The beginnings:
WiTricity Corp. was founded in
2007 to commercialize the exciting new technology for wireless electricity
invented at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
MIT Professor Marin Soljačić conceived
the idea while staring at his cell phone on the kitchen counter. It was
probably the sixth time that month that he was awakened by his mobile phone in
need to be charged. At that moment, it occurred to him, “There is electricity
wired all through this house, all through my office—everywhere. This phone
should take care of its own charging!” But to make this possible, one would
have to find a way to transfer power from the existing wired infrastructure to
the cell phone, without wires. Soljačić started thinking of physical phenomena
that could make this dream a reality.
To achieve wireless electricity
transfer in a practical and safe way, it is necessary to use a physical
phenomenon that enables the device and the power source to exchange energy with
no or minimal interaction with living beings and other environmental objects. The
phenomenon of strongly coupled resonators did the trick and the physical
theories were developed.
Afterwards, the experimental
design consisted of two copper coils was developed. One of the coils, connected
to an AC power supply, was the resonant source. The other coil, the resonant
capture device, was connected to a 60 watt light bulb. The power source and
capture device were suspended in mid-air with nylon thread, at distances that
ranged from a few centimeters to over 2.5 meters. Not only was the light bulb illuminated, but
the theoretical predictions of high efficiency over distance were proven
experimentally. By placing various objects between the source and capture
device, the team demonstrated how the magnetic near field can transfer power
through certain materials and around metallic obstacles.
How it works:
WiTricity power sources and
capture devices are specially designed magnetic resonators that efficiently
transfer power over large distances via the magnetic near-field. These
proprietary source and device designs and the electronic systems that control
them support efficient energy transfer over distances that are many times the
size of the sources/devices themselves.
Practical application:
WiTricity technology can be used
to provide:
Direct Wireless Power—when
all the power a device needs is provided wirelessly, and no batteries are
required. This mode is for a device that is always used within range of its
WiTricity power source.
Automatic Wireless Charging—when a device with rechargeable batteries charges itself
while still in use or at rest, without requiring a power cord or battery
replacement. This mode is for a mobile device that may be used both in and out
of range of its WiTricity power source.
So now we can say that the
wireless electricity is here and soon we will be able to live in a wire-free world.
I hope our future generations will not even have any idea about these wires.
Note: The technical parts of the
content has been taken from WiTricity website (www.witricity.com)
