Imagine walking into an airport or grocery store and your smartphone automatically starts charging. This could be a reality one day, thanks to a new wireless laser charging system that overcomes some of the challenges that have hindered previous attempts to develop safe and convenient on-the-go charging systems.
"The ability to power devices wirelessly could eliminate the need to carry around power cables for our phones or tablets," said research team leader Jinyong Ha from Sejong University in South Korea. "It could also power various sensors such as those in Internet of Things (IoT) devices and sensors used for monitoring processes in manufacturing plants."
In Optics Express, the researchers describe their new system, which uses infrared light to safely transfer high levels of power. Laboratory tests showed that it could transfer 400 mW light power over distances of up to 30 meters. This power is sufficient for charging sensors, and with further development, it could be increased to levels necessary to charge mobile devices.
Several techniques have been studied for long-range wireless power transfer. However, it has been difficult to safely send enough power over meter-level distances. To overcome this challenge, the researchers optimized a method called distributed laser charging, which has recently gained more attention for this application because it provides safe high-power illumination with less light loss.
Imagine a person on the ground guiding an airborne drone that harnesses its energy from a laser beam, eliminating the need for carrying a bulky onboard battery.
That is the vision of a group of University of Colorado at Boulder scientists from the Hayward Research Group.
In a new study, the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering researchers have developed a novel and resilient photomechanical material that can transform light energy into mechanical work without heat or electricity, offering innovative possibilities for energy-efficient, wireless and remotely controlled systems. Its wide-ranging potential spans across diverse industries, including robotics, aerospace and biomedical devices.
"We cut out the middle man, so to speak, and take light energy and turn it directly into mechanical deformation," Professor Ryan Hayward said.
Hayward and his team describe the new material in a report published July 27 in Nature Materials.
A new wireless EV charging pad can fill a car's battery as efficiently as a wired plug, at groundbreaking 100 kW power levels – unlocking the possibility of fast, efficient and super-convenient charging simply by parking in a designated spot.
Wireless power transfer was famously first demonstrated in the 1890s by one Nikola Tesla. Today, it's fairly commonplace in many homes, where plenty of folk use wireless charging pads for phones, tablets and electric toothbrushes, as well as inductive cooktops. The power is transferred from the charger to the device through the interaction of electromagnetic fields, and what was once dark magic is now considered a safe, convenient and efficient way to get the job done.
No outdoor outlet? Power Mole transmits electricity through window glass
By Ben Coxworth
March 25, 2024
The Power Mole wirelessly transmits 10 watts of electricity through window glass, allowing indoor outlets to power outdoor devices. It's built on the inductive coupling technology utilized in wireless smartphone charging systems.
Currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign, the Power Mole was created by California-based inventor Peter Bevelacqua. It's made for situations in which devices such as security cameras or decorative lights need a power source, but there are no outdoor outlets nearby.
The setup consists of two puck-shaped components: the transmitter, which is adhered to the inside surface of a window pane, and the receiver, which is adhered to the outside of the pane. The transmitter is plugged into an indoor household outlet, while the receiver is USB hard-wired to the outdoor device.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory Creates 100 kW Wireless EV Charger
It's as powerful as a Level 3 charger and is up to 96% efficient.
By Ryan Whitwam April 1, 2024
Engineers at Oak Ridge National Laboratories (ORNL) in Tennessee have brought us one step closer to electric vehicles that charge themselves without any tedious plugging and unplugging. The researchers recently expanded a laboratory proof-of-concept wireless charging system to the real world using a modified Hyundai Kona EV. The wireless charging system was reportedly able to juice up the car at 100 kW, adding hundreds of miles of range per hour of charging.
The system, as implemented in the test vehicle, has a five-inch gap between the charger on the ground and the receiving coil on the car. In a previous laboratory test, the same setup reached 120 kW charging speeds, but this test features a production vehicle perched above the prototype coil. Usually, any separation between transmission and receiving coils causes efficiency to tank, but the team says this system has an impressive 96% efficiency rate. That means just 4% of the supplied power is lost as heat.
DARPA intends to wirelessly charge drones while in flight by power-beaming
By Joe Salas
May 28, 2024
DARPA has committed further funding for far-field wireless power transfer – or power-beaming – to wirelessly charge drones in flight without them ever having to abandon mission to recharge or swap out dead batteries, potentially saving critical missions.
Dr. Ifana Mahbub, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at The University of Texas, had already received the Young Faculty Award from DARPA in 2021, giving her US$500,000 over two years for her project. The fellowship offers an additional $250,000 in funding to continue development of the power-beaming technology.
Oakridge National Labs Demos Record 270 kilowatt Wireless Charging of Electric Cars
June 22, 2024 by Brian Wang
https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/06/o ... -cars.html
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have successfully demonstrated the first 270-kW wireless power transfer to a light-duty electric vehicle. The demonstration used a Porsche Taycan and was conducted in collaboration with Volkswagen Group of America using the ORNL-developed polyphase wireless charging system.
As a light-duty passenger vehicle, the Porsche Taycan would be difficult to equip using conventional large, heavy wireless power transfer systems. The vehicle can’t support the charging hardware due to space, weight and volume limitations. Existing wireless charging systems for light-duty vehicles are currently under development for up to 11-kW power levels with up to 92% efficiency. Current industry standards cover up to 20-kW power levels.
The next step for fully integrated textile-based electronics to make their way from the lab to the wardrobe is figuring out how to power the garment gizmos without unfashionably toting around a solid battery. Researchers from Drexel University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Accenture Labs in California have taken a new approach to the challenge by building a full textile energy grid that can be wirelessly charged. In their recent study, the team reported that it can power textile devices, including a warming element and environmental sensors that transmit data in real-time.
Published in the journal Materials Today, the paper describes the process and viability of building the grid by printing on nonwoven cotton textiles with an ink composed of MXene, a type of nanomaterial created at Drexel, that is at that same time highly conductive and durable enough to withstand the folding, stretching and washing that clothing endures.