We first read about Nikola Tesla, the radio pioneer, transferring electricity through the air to power an electronic gadget in “Tesla – Master of Lightning”. Tesla, the inventor of alternating current and hydro-electric generating plants, tried unsuccessfully to do it in the early 1900s. Technical hurdles have hampered attempts to do the same thing ever since.
Last fall at Intel's San Francisco IDF, Justin Rattner, corporate CTO, demonstrated a Wireless Energy Resonant Link that had the audience mesmerised. At CES in January, Palm demonstrated their new smartphone and was voted Best of the Show. One of the items that amazed the audience with an optional charging pad called the Touchstone which uses electromagnetic induction to charge the device wirelessly. When the Pre is placed on the pad, the two recognise each other through built-in sensors. Magnets embedded in the pad align the handset and hold it in place during charging.
There were several other magnetic charging devices shown at CES. In most cases, some sort of adapter needs to be added to a device receiving power, so that the systems can recognise it and regulate it. The transmitter and receiver need to be almost touching, as well. Most of the products needed either direct contact, or could send only minuscule amounts of electricity.
Last week at O'Reilly's Etech 2009, we heard a lot of people saying that the electric power cord could be on its way out. We wanted to find out more.
This week, ITExaminer caught up with David Graham, Power Beam CEO and founder. PowerBeam sends its electricity through the air with a laser instead of magnets. The laser's beam is invisible, but you can feel its warmth on your hand. Importantly, its wavelength is not harmful to the eye.
Graham presented his ideas at the Dow Jones Wireless Innovations conference. There, he was looking for second round investors to take the presented prototype into the next phase. Graham said that Power Beam's approach uses multiple low-power lasers so that their power densities top out at around 10mW/mm2, but it’s all heat energy. If you put your hand in front of the beam, it feels kind of like putting your hand over a hot cup of coffee.
ITExaminer saw two small boxes, one plugged into the electric wall socket and the other one had a volt meter and a multi-colored globe attached. When the two boxes were properly aligned, the volt meter shows several watts of power and the globe lighted up. Graham says the next step is a floor lamp that will sit any place in the home. A low power high intensity LED light, a battery system, and a laser receiver will be inside the lamp. The laser transmitter will be at the wall socket.
Graham said that Power Beam operates at a wave length which is 1400nm or greater. These waves create the beam. The beam is collimated giving us the ability to achieve great distances without loss in power or efficiency. Whether your device is one meter away or 100 meters away, it can still be powered by Power Beam without any limitation on power density or application performance.
Several people asked what happens if someone walks in front of the laser beam? Graham said that the production Power Beam modules will include an additional low-power NIR laser that acts as a safety switch and cuts off the multiple lasers. The battery will take over until the obstruction moves and the lasers reconnect.
Graham said that power interruption would not be much of a problem at big-box retail stores like Fry's, Winco foods or Home Depot. Those huge retailers have to string cords from the ceiling, or when their site is being built guess where electric sockets will be needed. Instead, Power Beam units would be attached to the ceiling or walls and power digital signage and audio speakers. Thus, the product manufacturer would engage retail customers in their digital advertising.
Graham then talked about their latest development, a replacement light bulb using LED technology and having Power Beam's transmitter. With it, every light bulb in the ceiling could be sending electricity to other devices like digital picture frames, audio speakers, or your laptop computer. Obviously, Power Beam's approach is not going to power your home laundry or your microwave oven. But lots of things in the world actually have a very low wattage draw and could have their cords cut. We will follow Power Beam's progress from prototypes to first generation shipping products.
