"Last year, MIT researcher Martin Soljacic caused quite a stir with his proposal for transmitting energy wirelessly, thus dispensing with the jungle of power cords that infest our tech-savvy dwellings." "Soljacic began his search for wireless transmission several years ago after being awakened by the beeping of his uncharged cell phone. "It occurred to me that it would be so great if the thing took care of its own charging," he said." "The system, dubbed WiTricity, takes advantage of the tendency of objects that resonate at the same frequency to pick up each other's vibes." http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/06...ess_energy.html
Wow. If this actually gets any kind of backing...the implications could have a HUGE impact on anything and everything we do in this day and age. I'm a dreamer, and my mind is spinning with the endless possibilities that could come of this. First, small devices, like watches. Then cell phones. Then PDAs. Then laptop computers. Then on up to small appliances. Then bigger appliances. It goes on and on...you get the idea.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ozyran @ Jun 7 2007, 08:48 PM) [snapback]457734[/snapback]</div> We need some more details. I'm not sure how he claims to pick up 45% of the energy transmitted, and the rest is absorbed by the transmitter? Nicholas Tesla proved that energy can be sent over radio waves (EMF radiation), even supposedly powering a car this way (imagine - a true EV and no batteries needed!) Only problem was you needed to stay within a mile or so of the transmitting station. He thought you could have stations set up all over and people could drive from one to the next, but then how do companies make money? Free energy sent over the air is hard to meter. Also, all the EMF radiation may not be a good thing, higher frequencies, like X-rays, have been shown to have harmful effects, the jury is still out on other frequencies. A small house-sized unit could be quite useful though - no electric wires, just put a light bulb anywhere you want it!
As nerfer points out, Tesla did this a long time ago, so it's nothing new. However, doing this on a large scale, or over long distances, it would be impossible to confine the transmitted energy to the target alone. In practical applications most of the energy would be absorbed by unintended targets, wasting energy and damaging pretty much everything close enough to absorb more energy than it could handle. This could be addressed by using laser beams to transmit the energy, but watch out if you happen to walk into the beam! A couple of decades ago, there was a proposal for solar-energy satellites to spread huge arrays of solar cells in space, and send the energy to receiving stations on Earth via highly-focused microwave beams. The problem was that any perturbation of the transmitting antenna could deflect the beam and fry whatever, or whoever, had the misfortune to be in its path.
I've had one of those braun electric toothbrushes for about 8 years now... same one, still works great... I sit it on a base to charge it, but there are no 'contacts', and no cord to plug in... Does anyone know how that system charges? I was guessing some magnet type action in the base causes something to move in the brush handle that causes the battery to charge.. but I really don't know how that system works... Anyone know?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daronspicher @ Jun 8 2007, 11:57 AM) [snapback]458104[/snapback]</div> The toothbrush and base together make a transformer with the base containing the primary and the brush handle the secondary. The post in the base that you set the brush on is actually the core of the transformer, just covered in plastic.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daronspicher @ Jun 8 2007, 09:57 AM) [snapback]458104[/snapback]</div> This is how my car charges as well, BTW. Inductive only - no contacts. You stick a plastic paddle in a slot. You can do it underwater. In fact GM charged the EV1 in a fish tank in one promo spot. But back to the subject - gimme a break. Yes it can be done. No, it isn't likely to BE done.
Sorry, I'm just a bit of an idealist when it comes to these things. Honestly, I wish there were a way to have something like this implemented. A car would be powered by small transmission stations in the street. It's still say too ahead of its time, yes; much like the gliders of the late 19th century. It's simple, really; a car would be powered by a small power transmission station in the street. Each transmission station provides you power only if you've paid your yearly dues for driving on the street. It'd be like vehicle registration; only, instead of paying for the privilege to drive on the street, you'd be paying for the privilege to drive on the street and for your motive force as well - all in one fell swoop. Unfortunately, there's too much limitation in place right now to allow for such a thing. We'll just have to wait another 50 years or so, that's all
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daronspicher @ Jun 8 2007, 09:57 AM) [snapback]458104[/snapback]</div> Here is a video of the inductive charger for my Rav. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62fGYEtZ1gA#GU5U2spHI_4
