WiTricity
 

June 12, 2007 (Computerworld) -- The day may be coming when PCs, cell phones and many other devices will be run without a battery or electrical cord.

Last week, an MIT research team announced that it had juiced up a 60-watt light bulb using "WiTricity," the name it has given a wireless electricity source it is developing.

The team generated the WiTricity using two copper coils, one attached to a power source. The power coil emitted a field of magnetism to the unpowered coil, stimulating it to generate a current that powered the light bulb from seven feet away, said Andre Kurs, a graduate student in MIT's physics department who worked on the project.

The team has been testing WiTricity options over the past year, he said.

The WiTricity generated by the coils powered the light bulb in a way similar to magnetic induction, which is used in power transformers so that one coil carries power to another, Kurs said.

Using an energy converter, any object near the WiTricity generating coils could be powered, explained Kurs, who said the technology could, in the future, be used to replace cords and bulky batteries, which often contain toxic chemicals.

Kurs also contended that WiTricity is safer than electricity or batteries and will "run forever if you take care of it."

Depending on how the coils are configured, a single WiTricity source could provide power for several laptops or dozens of cell phones, he said.

The team plans to expand the tests with a goal of covering greater distances and generating more power, Kurs added.

"We're working to make this efficient, so it could be competitive with rechargeable batteries. It could be commercially available in a few years," he said. "We're going to get to work on this and get some more exotic applications, possibly even for consumers. We're cautiously optimistic."

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Sounds a bit sci-fi, but I suppose that 50 years ago a lot of what we use now would have sounded like sci-fi. It sounds like an interesting idea anyway.

Yeah - I have read quite a bit about his. One of the drawbacks is that research needs to be done to determine the longtern effects on people. There is an entire body of work that supports the theory that *EMF's are damaging to the human body. The strength and intensity of the EMF's obviously make a difference.

* EMF = Electro Magnetic Field (for those of you who are not nerds)

Kathleen

Well that was my initial thought Kathleen, I'd worry about that certainly. As long as they can develop it and make it safe enough, with independent studies, then it sounds like a fantastic idea. If the range is wide enough we'd perhaps no longer need unsightly electric pylons running through the countryside, and no need for plugging things in in your home and whatever else.

This is 2020 at the earliest. This kind of thing is guaranteed to hit governmental barriers. If you read the Daily Mail, this means we'll all be drowned by global warming anyway so who gives a shit :)

As long as it can be proven safe I don't see why it should take so long, it sounds like something that all of the big electrical companies would be interested in. As long as the technology is cheap enough I know I'd love to be able to bring something home and not have wires to fiddle with.