Researchers at Sejong University in South Korea have successfully used infrared light to wirelessly transmit power up to nearly 100-feet. During their tests, the system transferred 400 mW of light power over distances of up to 98-feet (30-meters), sufficient for charging sensors. With more development, its power output could be increased to levels necessary to charge mobile devices, including tablets and laptops.
Does this technology sound familiar? Well, that’s because various techniques have been tested for long-range wireless power transfer, but most were not safe enough to send enough power over meter-level distances. This method uses distributed laser charging, which offers safe high-power illumination with less light loss. The system consists of two main components: a transmitter that can be installed in a room, and a receiver capable of being integrated into electronic devices.Technically speaking, the receiver is basically an erbium-doped fiber amplifier optical power source with a central wavelength of 1550 nm. This beam is then shot through the air to hit the receiver, which is composed of a spherical lens retroreflector. If you just can’t wait for this technology to hit Starbucks, Xiaomi Mi Air Charge is probably the next best thing.
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The ability to power devices wirelessly could eliminate the need to carry around power cables for our phones or tablets. It could also power various sensors such as those in Internet of Things devices and sensors used for monitoring processes in manufacturing plants. While most other approaches require the receiving device to be in a special charging cradle or to be stationary, distributed laser charging enables self-alignment without tracking processes as long as the transmitter and receiver are in the line of sight of each other,” said Jinyong Ha, research team leader from Sejong University in South Korea.
