Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Wireless Power For Laptops, Cellphones?
Battery technology has come a long way; more power from cells that are smaller and lighter. But what about devices like laptops, cellphones and Roombas that have no batteries, never need to be plugged in, but still work?
If you've read science fiction or know about the early history of electric power, you've heard this story before. Before the American landscape was covered with wires, inventors like Nikola Tesla thought it might be possible to beam energy through the air. The largest Tesla coil ever built could generate 300,000 watts of power, creating bolts of lightning 130 feet long. Tesla actually managed to successfully transmit about 30 to 50 thousand watts of power without wires using the coil.
However, this kind of power transmission typically required uninterrupted line-of-sight; the beam was usually focused on the object needing power, which means that some method of tracking objects was also needed.
Marin Soljacic, Aristeidis Karalis and J.D.Joannopoulos recently published a paper on Wireless Non-Radiative Energy Transfer, in which they describe several ways of using energy-transfer methods over short distances (like within a room or office cubicle). Rather than filling a space with electromagnetic radiation; the transmitting side of the device would provide a "non-radiative" field that would provide energy only to devices designed to resonate with the field. Unused energy would be (for the most part) reabsorbed by the emitting device.
Researchers worked with two well-known electromagnetic resonant systems: dielectric disks and capacitively-loaded
conducting-wire loops. In their study, both showed acceptable performance.
Update 04-Nov-2006: As it happens, E.E. "Doc" Smith mentions something very much like this charging scheme in his 1930 novel Skylark Three:
Take a look at some other power alternatives:
Read the Soljacic, Karalis and Joannopoulos paper Wireless Non-Radiative Energy Transfer. And thanks to Winchell Chung for the update.
the proposed mechanism
is promising for many modern applications. For example, in the macroscopic world, this scheme
could be used to deliver power to robots and/or computers in a factory room, or electric buses on
a highway (source-cavity would in this case be a “pipe” running above the highway). In the
microscopic world, where much smaller wavelengths would be used and smaller powers are
needed, one could use it to implement optical inter-connects for CMOS electronics, or to transfer
energy to autonomous nano-objects (e.g. MEMS or nano-robots) without worrying much about
the relative alignment between the sources and the devices.
My favorite science fiction story dealing with radiant power is Robert Heinlein's Waldo, published in 1942. In reading the story, you need to remember that radiant power transmission was all the rage in the 'Teens and 'Twenties.
He had seen radiant power grow up. He had seen the great transmission lines removed from the sky - mined for their copper.
(Read more about radiant power)
"No wiring — tight beam transmission. The Fenachrone do it with two matched-frequency separable units."
(Read more about Matched-Frequency Separable Units)
John Jacob Astor dreamed of electric cars that would serve us in 1894; all he needed was a really good battery technology.
Normally speedy light stopped for a full second in a crystal by Australian researchers.
The brisk strides of hikers converted into electricity.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 11/16/2006)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Engineering ")
Magnetically Driven Rotary Microfilter 3D Printed
'... not really walls but nearly infinite grids of submicroscopic wheels.' - Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Aquaer Brings Vaporators To Namibia
'The atmosphere yielded its moisture with reluctance.' - George Lucas, 1976.
Force Fields Of Directed Energy Wanted By USAF
'The downrushing bombs bounced off the cone-curtain of light as though from an invisible rubber wall.' - Frank Phillips, 1929.
Hovering F-22 Raptor Predicted in 1929 (Sort Of)
'... it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair.' - R.H. Roman, 1929.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Adorable One-Seater Electric Car From Wuxi Sinotech
'Noiselessly, on rubber-tired wheels, they journeyed...'
Zoom Adds Real-Time, Live Translation
'He immediately turned the small shining disc of the Language Rectifier..'
It's Spacewalk Sunday, Thanks To The ESA
'The delicious, indescribable pleasure of being a little planet swinging through space...'
Pengxing Intelligent Robot Horse You Can Ride
'The horse reared up, pawing the air, then sprang into a gallop.'
Tesla Bot Humanoid 'Robot' Vs. Boston Dynamics Atlas Parkour Robot
'...most jobs that require a human form are better done by those organic alternatives.'
Altos Labs' Bezos Wants An Anti-Agathic (To Live Forever)
'So what we're looking for now is... an anti-agathic, an anti-death drug.'
Carver EV Single Person Microcar Leans In
'Farr paid his fare, summoned a one-man car...'
Smartphone Microdrone Concept - Viva Vivo!
'With the Scarab as big as a beetle, I could make a Scarab as big as a sand grain.'
Anti-Forced Organ Harvesting Global Summit
'The doctor was a line of machines with a conveyor belt running through them.'
Flyboard Water Jet Shoes Lift Off
'I shall never forget that first lesson in aerial walking.'
Magnetically Driven Rotary Microfilter 3D Printed
'... not really walls but nearly infinite grids of submicroscopic wheels.'
Pyrus, An Alternative Wood Made From Kombucha
Science fiction has just the word you'll need for that real wood from trees you've been using. Until now.
NASA Predicts Radiation Risks
'...in order to check the deadly short-wave gamma rays of space.'
Feisty Little Robot Dog Cheaper Than Boston Dynamics
'He allowed his hand to run experimentally over the concealed panel of studs under the fur of the robot’s belly.'
China Wants To Build Mega Space Ships
'Don't do anything to endanger our shipping privileges...'
Adjust Earth Temp With A Bazillion Solar Sunshades
'...as the sun passed the meridian at Cape Town-it went out.'
