AfterDawn: News

Intel working on wireless charging for portable devices

Back in 2006, Dr. Marin Soljacic at the MIT Department of Physics and Research Laboratory of Electronics demonstrated the transmission of Electricity using using magnetic resonance. On Thursday, Intel was to demonstrate some progress in the wireless charging technology, which could be used to charge laptops, MP3 players and mobile phones without the need to connect any wires.

Intel was to demonstrate that it has cut the previous 50% loss in power to between 40% and 25% loss. However, Dr. Izahr Matzkevich, cofounder of wireless developer WildCharge, warned that the technology still has a long way to go before it becomes more efficient and more practical in use. Soljacic's original demonstrations could transmit electricity to portable devices up to 7 feet.



Present technology requires that wireless rechargers must be in contact with recharging bases or recharging mats. "Resonance technology like the MIT demonstration requires a heavy infrastructure -- right now, with coils of at least two feet -- to accomplish even a small distance," he said. "Add to that a 35 percent loss in power, this is not insignificant."

There is also the problem of interference with other electrical equipment. Nevertheless, the technology is still worth developing.

Written by: James Delahunty @ 21 Aug 2008 21:40

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• 31 comments

• 21Q

  I had actually researched this technology once. I didn't know Intel had shown interest in it. I hope that is can become more effective in the near future and not require that mat. Like a global wireless electric flow that kept all devices charged at one time.

  21.8.2008 21:55 #1

• DXR88

  uhuh yeah, lets just send electric volts around the house. let alone what will happen if it shorts or overloads.

  21.8.2008 22:35 #2

• dude845

  One day someone will walk out of the shower, they'll feel all warm and good.. but then pow electrocuted to death.. then they'll wonder why they even did anything like this... ahha. jokes aside if they can get it stable and working I wouldn't mind investing in some of this stuff :).

  22.8.2008 00:04 #3

• akira247

  demonstrated the transmission of Electricity using using magnetic resonance....
  
  i thought Nikola Tesla invented and demonstrated this back in the 1900's Nikola Tesla had multiple patents disclosing long distance power transmission
  wireless telecommunications and electrical power distribution achieved through the use of earth-resonance principles.
  
  its on wikipedia

  22.8.2008 05:03 #4

• MrRee

  But everyone knows transmissions over short distances is much more difficult. lol

  22.8.2008 08:06 #5

• Mez

  21Q, you REALLY do not want that. Magnetic resonance is only reasonable at tiny distances. Otherwise the power requirement would be out of the question. The power drop over distance is a huge logarithmic factor. I knew someone that actually understood this problem and was discussing it with me 20 yrs ago or so. At 20 ft the full power of the Hover Damn couldn't supply enough power to charge an ipod. Anything that had ANY metal within 5 ft would be fried. Probably the hemoglobin in our blood would be affected if we walked into the kill zone. I am sure the term would be a literal one. Maybe it would rip the hemoglobin out of our bodies or something like that.
  
  The dramatic power drop off actually makes the tiny distance transfer safe.

  22.8.2008 09:34 #6

• ZippyDSM

  sending energy though the air is a interesting idea, its not real voltage persay but magnetized energy that can only really electrify its receiver.

  22.8.2008 09:39 #7

• redux79

  Charging laptops and mobile devices with this technology seems a little far fetched at this point, but there are already some interesting developments in the medical field.
  
  A less invasive GI diagnostic pill
  http://www.popsci.com/how-it-works/artic...ope-camera-pill

  22.8.2008 11:18 #8

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by redux79: Charging laptops and mobile devices with this technology seems a little far fetched at this point, but there are already some interesting developments in the medical field.
  
  A less invasive GI diagnostic pill
  " target="_blank">http://www.popsci.com/how-it-works/artic...ra-pill
  
  it will take another 10+ years to have something that can charge a item only begin a few MM away.

  22.8.2008 11:25 #9

• 21Q

  Haha Mez that's actually a [retty interesting thought. Never thought of people getting killed from it, seeing as how we do conduct electricity. Would a magnetic field bear the same result as getting shocked though? And yeah the distance .. hmm. Well that is what future technology and advancement is for.

  22.8.2008 13:50 #10

• gnovak1

  Originally posted by dude845: One day someone will walk out of the shower, they'll feel all warm and good.. but then pow electrocuted to death.. then they'll wonder why they even did anything like this... ahha. jokes aside if they can get it stable and working I wouldn't mind investing in some of this stuff :).LOL !!!! Ya gotta love this !!!

  22.8.2008 13:57 #11

• Mez

  It is not elecricity but a kind of magnetice force that is powerful enough to move free electons in thing like copper wire. I am sure I don't understand the concepts other than AC current is created by just moving free electrons back and forth. AC current is generated by using magnets that move across copper wire. Motors do the reverse. Electons push the magnets.

  22.8.2008 14:17 #12

• ispy

  A company in the UK called Splash Power has previewed this some time back on TV for items like mobile phones,Mp3 players etc...
  Check this out http://www.splashpower.com/

  22.8.2008 15:17 #13

• Baccusboy

  And to think, I was worried about cancer after regular wifi transmissions and holding a cell phone next to my head.
  
  This will last about as long as until someone gets the bright idea to sue them, saying is caused cancer.
  
  It will freak some people out too much. There will be protests against "second-hand electricity"

  22.8.2008 20:13 #14

• Baccusboy

  ...not to mention that such a large "transmission loss" would fuel a lot of protests from environmentalists and green energy folks.
  
  This will take quite a bit of work.

  22.8.2008 20:18 #15

• Unfocused

  @akira247
  
  You are absolutely correct. Tesla succesfully demonstrated the wireless transportation of electricity. I believe that this was a roughly 100 years ago or so.
  
  My guess is that some corporation bought that patent and locked it away so that they could continue to charge the consumer for the corded service. How would one regulate wireless electricity?

  22.8.2008 21:00 #16

• Mr-Movies

  The military cloaked a ship for a very brief moment many years ago with a very strong magnetic field however most of the people died shortly afterwards.
  
  Will I need to buy a lead suite like what they give you for X-Ray's? LOL
  
  I can’t believe they are wasting their time with this it will create more problems and waste more power then it is worth, how stupid!

  23.8.2008 07:51 #17

• NHS2008

  Mutation....

  23.8.2008 10:26 #18

• DXR88

  Yeap, mutation but not that bad. I'll just put on my dark robes and shoot lightning out of my finger tips at people who displease me.
  
  Come to the Dark Side we have wireless cell phone chargers,MWHAHAHAHAHA.

  23.8.2008 14:35 #19

• Mez

  Tesla coils make artificial lightining and are often in the labs of mad scientists as seen on TV. In the US patents run out in 17 years but even if they lasted for a century that patent would have expired. I think the company holding on to the technology was afraid of law suits when the 100,000 volt lightining bolt missed the target device and kills the human. I guess the advantage would be if you didn't die in the charging process, you could charge your ipod in less than a second. I think I want one! You need high voltage to make electricity jump through air. The further away, the more volts you need.

  26.8.2008 09:26 #20

• Hardwyre

  No, it would work like Microwave does now. You know those scan-badges that people use at work? That's kind of how this will work. When the badge gets close enough to the plate, the microwaves from the plate carry electricity to the badge, which powers the microchip in it, which then emits a short code back to the plate which then interprets it and gives (or denies) access, based on programmed permissions.
  
  In essence, you could have your video game system providing the wireless controllers with an infinite supply of power (never charging battery packs again!), or a cell phone you can charge just by setting it on your computer case...

  26.8.2008 10:43 #21

• Hardwyre

  No, it would work like Microwave does now. You know those scan-badges that people use at work? That's kind of how this will work. When the badge gets close enough to the plate, the microwaves from the plate carry electricity to the badge, which powers the microchip in it, which then emits a short code back to the plate which then interprets it and gives (or denies) access, based on programmed permissions.
  
  In essence, you could have your video game system providing the wireless controllers with an infinite supply of power (never charging battery packs again!), or a cell phone you can charge just by setting it on your computer case...

  26.8.2008 10:46 #22

• Mez

  Being a form of light, microwaves are not effected much by distance like magnetic forces and electicity. They can still boil water in your tissues if they are powerful enough. However, small charges are safe.
  
  You proposal sounds 'real world' but possibly still hazzardous. Cell phones are now suspect for cancer and they transmit less juice than a power supply.

  26.8.2008 10:53 #23

• dbminter

  Sounds still too much like the realm of fiction to me. Or rather non-practicality. Hence why it stayed in fiction like G.I. Joe: The Movie. The Broadcast Energy Transmitter. 21 years ago and still just not practical.

  27.8.2008 19:52 #24

• DXR88

  over one hundred years of its discover and no advancement on it, truth be told i don't think it can be done. if it could the military would have tried this years ago. the reason i don't think it can be done is simple what is controlling the current to the device not a dame thing Electricity is dangerous no matter how low the volts, you have to play all the variables that modify electricity range and output the second it leaves the device

  27.8.2008 20:35 #25

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by DXR88: over one hundred years of its discover and no advancement on it, truth be told i don't think it can be done. if it could the military would have tried this years ago. the reason i don't think it can be done is simple what is controlling the current to the device not a dame thing Electricity is dangerous no matter how low the volts, you have to play all the variables that modify electricity range and output the second it leaves the deviceYa but this not electricity in "lethal" form its more a form of magnetization that is able to charge a receiver with energy.
  
  But there are other less lethal issues to consider like cancer causing energies, or it interfering with the operation of a device building up energy in ti and frying it.

  27.8.2008 20:50 #26

• varnull

  Strange that actually we have been doing it all the time. It's what broadcasting is.. the transmission of power over distance without any direct connection. (while we still have analog radio make a crystal set and amaze yourself with power source free radio reception.. no batteries, no plug.. just the power contained in the signal) There is a connection, but you wouldn't think of the ground as being a connector in the normal sense and it isn't actually needed.
  
  Look up the Lodge broadcasting system from around 1900 and you will see another method of transmitting power wirelessly using induction rather than radiation. It is used now everywhere you see that loop hearing aid device symbol in banks and shops.
  
  Really quite simple to implement these days as the power and voltage requirements of devices have dropped.. I could make a radio or torch PSU which would pick up and rectify power from an induction loop running in the walls or floors of a building. Like radio broadcasts tho.. there is one really big drawback. Once the power is radiated anybody can use it, so it needs to be given free, and to do that we need unlimited free power.
  
  More likely all they are after is "remote wireless power transmission" patents so yet again they can hold us all to ransom by patenting pre-existing technology!
  

  
  
  Free open source software = made by end users who want an application to work. An engineer with a single tool in his toolbox is an idiot, not an engineer

  27.8.2008 21:17 #27

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by varnull: Strange that actually we have been doing it all the time. It's what broadcasting is.. the transmission of power over distance without any direct connection. (while we still have analog radio make a crystal set and amaze yourself with power source free radio reception.. no batteries, no plug.. just the power contained in the signal) There is a connection, but you wouldn't think of the ground as being a connector in the normal sense and it isn't actually needed.
  
  Look up the Lodge broadcasting system from around 1900 and you will see another method of transmitting power wirelessly using induction rather than radiation. It is used now everywhere you see that loop hearing aid device symbol in banks and shops.
  
  Really quite simple to implement these days as the power and voltage requirements of devices have dropped.. I could make a radio or torch PSU which would pick up and rectify power from an induction loop running in the walls or floors of a building. Like radio broadcasts tho.. there is one really big drawback. Once the power is radiated anybody can use it, so it needs to be given free, and to do that we need unlimited free power.
  
  More likely all they are after is "remote wireless power transmission" patents so yet again they can hold us all to ransom by patenting pre-existing technology!the process has held battery and super electricity(Tesla) back at least 100 years, but then again so has motive to work on things that put food on the table so you can further dev it, its a viscous cycle humanities fickle interest that is.
  

  For all the console/game fanboys out their.
  http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles...Console-Rundown
  Oh god I can't stop laughing!!!
  ---
  And for the format nazi's I bring you HHD DVVD BVD's!!
  

  27.8.2008 21:45 #28

• DXR88

  if i get to blow stuff up, im a happy man? ever seen a porcelain toilet explode. i have its so cool one second it cracks every where then when you think its safe you get porcelain shards every where.

  27.8.2008 21:55 #29

• Mez

  varnull, you are showing you age with the crystal sets.
  
  Yes, at low power levels microwaves/radio waves are perfectly safe. They contain less energy (safer) than visable light. At high energy they cook meat.
  
  However, I like the magnetic force for transmitting power because it dissapates so rapidly. You would need to make contact to get enough power to do anything. Radio waves dissapate less than visable light.

  29.8.2008 10:44 #30

• genelia

  goodddddd

  25.2.2011 20:59 #31