Look! No wires!

Jonathan Nieves

On a constantly changing civilization like ours, everyday scientist and production companies are face with the challenge of developing and evolving new technology to fit the ever growing needs and demands of the world and the their consumers. A very well known challenge over the years has been our struggle for more efficient energy supplement. Recently we have entered the age were wireless control over our resources and devices has been a main focus of developers, and more recently several companies have evolved wireless even further with its new wireless electricity technology which brings forth great promise in the field of energy distribution. For a while now, we’ve started seeing several wireless energy devices entering the electronics industries and pushing productivity further. The Powermat by Powermat USA industries is such a device. It enables the charging of electric devices without wires using several physics principals but more importantly magnetic induction. As the device is magnetically attracted to the source in the mat it starts charging the devices. This device is a step forward to easy energy transfer in everyday life, and although very innovated, it is still a long way from the dream of a fully wireless world. Yet discouraged we shall not be for even more recently the dream is closer than ever thanks to the very talented people at WiTricity Corp. They have developed a technology that far surpasses the Powermat and any other electric charging system I’ve seen yet. WiTricity showed that with its new technology it was able to power a 60 watt light bulb from a distance of over 7 feet. An amazing achievement as the energy also go’s over obstacles and reaches its destination receiver. How do they do it? It’s simpler than you might think, or at least if you are acquainted to the basics of physics. WiTricity’s tech uses the very basis of electrical physics understandings. Electromagnetism, Magnetic Induction, Energy/Power Coupling and the most important one, Resonant Magnetic Coupling, all principles that bring forth this great success in the field of energy distribution. WiTricity declared that by making receivers of the device of magnetic materials that bare a resonance to each other they are enable easier energy distribution which not only allows greater distance for the EM waves to travel, but also it makes it so it work specifically on the device they required.

Needless to say this advancement by WiTricity will open new doors for future everyday use of electricity. We could imagine the world fully charge and wireless. No longer would we be limited by the boundaries of limited energy source locations. Scientists have long dreamed of removing the need to constantly need a plug or batteries for electrical devices to work. Since in physics we learn that EM waves can travel far distances this is but maybe but a few years away of being a different story. No more low batteries on cell phones. Being able to whip out your laptops without worrying about needing to plug it in or even whether you have enough charge to finish that report for later. This is just the first steps. Physics always told as that in theory all this is possible, and soon, companies like WiTricity will tell us that it’s no longer theory, its reality.