Wireless electrical power tranmission.

[Topher925]

For those of you that don't read yahoo news, there was an article this morning about Intel developing wireless power transmission. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080821/ts_afp/usitinternetenergychipcompanyintel"

Apparently there was a demonstration where they lit up a 60watt light bulb across the stage but gave no numbers of efficiency or strength of the field. However, the article states that they are using magnetic fields instead of electric fields to transmit this power. They apparently do this because humans are not affected by magnetic fields but are affected by electric fields.

I know Tesla was able to transmit power wirelessly and reported doing it with an efficiency of 95% IIRC. There was also his "dream" of providing wireless free energy to everyone in the world by tapping the outer atmosphere charged by solar wind which was the purpose of Wardenclyffe Tower. However, as far as I know no one has been able to achieve efficiency anywhere near what Tesla has claimed nor do it for the distance he has reportedly done it either. Is it actually possible that this could be done using magnetic fields without interfering with electronic devices like laptops and phones and such. Alternating magnetic fields just don't seem like they would be able to achieve what Intel claims they can without side affects to the environment they are in. My EM understanding isn't the strongest, so could someone shed light on how Intel might be able to achieve their claims?

 

[Topher925]

A bit more information. Now that I see the actual demonstration, I'm less impressed.

A wireless power system is an utopian thought for many of us, but Intel is currently working on a solution that might revolutionalize the world in due time. This demonstration showed the device broadcasting 60 watts of power within a 3-foot range, featuring an efficiency level of 75%. This is made possible thanks to the same magnetic induction principle as all the other systems, but somehow Intel's engineers managed to squeeze out the most performance. To kiss goodbye to tangled power adapters for a plethora of gadgets that I carry is one dream I want to see before I leave this earth.

 

[stewartcs]

For those of you that don't read yahoo news, there was an article this morning about Intel developing wireless power transmission. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080821/ts_afp/usitinternetenergychipcompanyintel"

Apparently there was a demonstration where they lit up a 60watt light bulb across the stage but gave no numbers of efficiency or strength of the field. However, the article states that they are using magnetic fields instead of electric fields to transmit this power. They apparently do this because humans are not affected by magnetic fields but are affected by electric fields.

I know Tesla was able to transmit power wirelessly and reported doing it with an efficiency of 95% IIRC. There was also his "dream" of providing wireless free energy to everyone in the world by tapping the outer atmosphere charged by solar wind which was the purpose of Wardenclyffe Tower. However, as far as I know no one has been able to achieve efficiency anywhere near what Tesla has claimed nor do it for the distance he has reportedly done it either. Is it actually possible that this could be done using magnetic fields without interfering with electronic devices like laptops and phones and such. Alternating magnetic fields just don't seem like they would be able to achieve what Intel claims they can without side affects to the environment they are in. My EM understanding isn't the strongest, so could someone shed light on how Intel might be able to achieve their claims?

MIT has been working on this.

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/wireless-0607.html

CS

 

[uart]

A wireless power system is an utopian thought for many of us

Oh yes, let's unnecessarily subject ourselves to even far greater amounts of E/M fields, of unknown overall biological effect, than the large amount we already have. That hardly sounds like utopia to me.

 

[gmax137]

see also http://powercastco.com/

 

[peter0302]

You guys beat me to this.

How on Earth does this work? I must confess I'm totally clueless as to how this is possible. Are photons being exchanged and used to generate the current in the destination device? How does it get such high efficiency?

 

[russ_watters]

I know Tesla was able to transmit power wirelessly and reported doing it with an efficiency of 95% IIRC. There was also his "dream" of providing wireless free energy to everyone in the world by tapping the outer atmosphere charged by solar wind which was the purpose of Wardenclyffe Tower. However, as far as I know no one has been able to achieve efficiency anywhere near what Tesla has claimed nor do it for the distance he has reportedly done it either.

With all the conspiracy theory and crackpottery about Tesla out there, we must be careful to differentiate what Tesla claimed to have done with what others claim Tesla did. Those don't sound like claims Tesla would have made to me.