Scientists develop ‘WiTricity’: A wireless answer to all your electricity problems

After phones and computers the most necessary thing to run all appliances, electricity has also gone wireless. In what can be called as a death knell for the plug and the wires scientists have devised a wireless way to beam electricity across a room into all your electric appliances and that too without the need of wires.

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To prove this, scientists powered a 60-watt light bulb 7-foot away from the power source. Scientists expect that future developments of the technology will further improve and extend the distance between the appliance and the source.

Researchers have named the technology as ‘WiTricity’ and they believe that the technology can change the way we all look at electricity. Moreover, we will also be able to say goodbye to all the tangy cables and plugs.

How it works?

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The technology works on the principle of Electromagnetic Induction. According to the principle, voltage is produced across a conductor situated in a changing magnetic field or a conductor moving through a stationary magnetic field. In this case the conductor is a copper coil that is hidden in the ceiling, when an electric current is passed through the coil a powerful electromagnetic field is created around it. When electronic devices are placed in the room they pick up this electromagnetic field as a power source, making it like a wireless transfer of electricity.

Still after knowing the principles of ‘Electromagnetic Induction’ scientists had to develop some means by which current could be transmitted wirelessly to various devices in the room. Scientists already knew that it was possible to transfer electricity from one coil of wire to another without even touching them. This is the principle used in electric motors and transformers around the world. However, in this case both the coils have to be relatively close to one another and transfer cannot be conducted over large distances.

To solve this problem Dr. Soljacic suggested a breakthrough idea where he used a transmitter to fill an entire room with a ‘non-radiative’ electromagnetic field. When this field is beamed through a room most of the objects such as walls, carpets and people would remain unaffected by the wave, whereas, objects such as laptops and cellphones that are designed to resonate with electromagnetic field will absorb the energy. To prove the above mentioned phenomenon, scientists were able to power electric bulb 7-feet away from two copper coils. According to these scientists the technology can be used for a distance of up to 9-feet. That means a single power source in each room can provide enough power for the entire house.

What can we see in future?

If this technology passes all tests and comes to our homes one day then we can say that the need for power cables will end and our cell phones, laptops and PMPs will never need a battery charge as they will automatically get charged when you are in a room transmitting wireless electricity.