Maybe we have a future with no charging cords and just being at home and your phone is automatically charging from your “Wireless Charging Router”.

Sorry if this sounds stupid lol. I like to imagine weird ways we can use technology.

  • HiTekRedNek@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Yes. Google far-field wireless power.

    It’s not really ready for prime time, and there are a lot of things still needing to line up for it to become ready, but it’s coming eventually.

  • BombOmOm@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    I believe you would end up inducing currents in any metal surface in the house. Causing them to heat up, or if they are un-shielded electronics, zapping them.

  • zxqwas@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    The energy in a wave is inversely proportional to distance squared. In other words if you double the distance you get one quarter of the power.

    For information transfer like wifi this does not matter as long as it’s enough to be detected.

    For power transfer this becomes a huge problem quickly because it’s the energy itself that is being transferred.

    • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      It’s also important to note thst the increased power required significantly better cooling- on both devices.

      Nikola Tesla did a lot of research on inductive transmission and found it was basically useless for high power and long range. (Interestingly, he wanted to create a shield that would fry anything metallic coming near it. Like artillery shells and airplanes. Besides the power demands being utterly ridiculous, it could have conceivably worked.)

  • forty2@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    Ok, blue-skying a bit here…

    There’s this YouTube channel I check out occasionally. The YouTuber built a “wireless desk” where everything from the lamp to the mouse, keyboard, and even a coffee warmer were wirelessly powered.

    Wireless Powered Desk

    The core of it was a large induction loop built into the desk’s perimeter, paired with some surprisingly compact receiver dongles. Some parts required deeper DIY, like opening up the mouse and inserting a small receiver, but overall it was cool

    Scaling that concept up for an entire house is a wild thought… but kind of exciting!

  • Dr_Nik@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    So lots of hand waving comments here which are only mostly right. The key thing they are missing is that there are multiple wireless power technologies for different power levels, some of which are already commercial and available to buy!

    Powercast (www.powercastco.com) has multiple techs now that they either developed or licensed and they have integrated that into multiple FCC approved products. The Samsung TV remote uses both a small solar cell and their wireless energy harvester to make a remote that you never have to replace the batteries. Powercast also sells a joycon controller grip that has a battery with wireless trickle charging (done with playing for the day, leave the grip within 1-2 feet of the base station and it charges overnight). They also have a lot of other currently used applications that are not public (I’ve seen functions with low power charging over 1 meter distance), but if you ever go to CES you can check out their booth.

    Another option is Ossia (www.ossia.com) which uses a tech to monitor for obstructions (people, pets, tables, etc) and then steers the power beam around to be able to provide the most power and the least power loss. As another user posted this requires a lot of trust because the power levels they use could cause injury, but they apparently did pass FCC testing. They also are commercial.

    Airbrite (https://www.airbritelighting.com/) is a product commercialized from Etherdyne tech (https://www.etherdyne.net/) that is your standard inductive coil with some improvements. This is shorter range power than the other two but can provide much higher power with zero risk to biological parties. The video on Etherdyne’s website shows one mat powering a monitor, charging a phone, a lamp, and possibly charging a laptop at the same time. That being said, the products need to be within a coil’s field and almost completely in plane to get full power transfer.

  • Treczoks@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    If you want to drive your vacuum cleaner by wireless energy, you’ll probably need energy levels in the air that would also kill flies and mosquitoes. And pets and people, too.

  • cynar@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    It can, actually be done. It’s just inefficient and requires too much trust.

    You either do a general broadcast of power. This is incredibly inefficient, at any real range. To get power to the edges, the power near the transmitter will likely be enough to cook your cat.

    The other method is directed. You basically put out a power beam that improves efficiency. Unfortunately, you also now have a directable energy weapon in your living room. I wouldn’t trust something capable of cooking my brain, while I’m sat on the sofa, if it gets hacked.

    Neither are likely viable for general use, though both could be useful under certain conditions.

  • shyguyblue@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    Biggest problem with this is the inverse square law.

    Notice: The numbers from the example are pulled out of my ass, but the concept is there.

    Basically, if you double the distance (x2) from source and receiver, available power will be 25% (x0.25). If you triple the original distance (x3) then available power will be 10% (x0.10) (Not the real math, but it’s along the line)

    If you can pump out enough EM to cover all areas you’ll need, but not so much that it’ll fry devices closer to the source, I don’t see why you couldn’t get this to work in theory. I just wouldn’t want to pay the power bill required to overcome the EM field drop-off.

      • Hello_there@fedia.io
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        5 days ago

        That’s actually a thing. I saw a video reporting on some trade show and they were able to do something with a laser to energize a small device. Something a bit more intensive than a led but not by much.

  • 9point6@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    You would effectively be living in a microwave if it provided enough power for everything

    Edit: typo

  • MrJameGumb@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    I don’t think it sounds stupid at all! I looked up some info on this and it appears the technology already exists in that RF and Infrared chargers can charge a device across the distance of a room already. I would worry about the safety aspects of the average consumer having access to some kind of wireless charging “router” though. With wifi if someone sets something up incorrectly the worst that could happen is that they just don’t have good wifi, or they inadvertently give all the houses around them access to it, or someone hacks into it and steals their data. What would happen if someone manages to set up a charging router incorrectly? You could have overheating issues that could lead to battery degradation or even injuries. If some nefarious person gained access to it they could tell when Aunt Sally is using her rechargeable dildo, or they could make someone’s TV remote blow up in their hand, or set someone’s phone on fire in their pocket possibly?

    I’ll be honest I’m no expert on such things so this is all speculation on my part. I’m just very paranoid about this kind of thing. I suppose such a router could be restricted to only emmit a safe level of charging power but wouldn’t that mean some items charge quickly while larger items take hours or even days to get a full charge?