WiTricity - Wireless Electricity

Our forefathers marveled at the invention of glowing light bulbs by Thomas Edison in 1879. However, to us 21st centurions, the light bulb is nothing out of the ordinary. When computers, cellphones, laptops, iPods, etc. were invented our antennas tweaked. Now this is what you call invention! However, as time's progressing we are getting used to these devices. In fact, charging all these appliances has become so very cumbersome.

Each appliance has its own set of chargers, and with every family member owning their cellphones, the drawers are overflowing with all sorts of wires. How many times have you wished if there could be some way to do away with all the wiry clutter? When you are on the way to work and your cellphone beeps in hunger for a battery charge, haven't you wished for your cellphone battery to get 'self charged'. Well your plight has been heard by doctor 'WiTricity'. What is WiTricity? WiTricity is nothing but wireless electricity. Transmission of electrical energy from one object to another without the use of wires is called as WiTricity. WiTricity will ensure that the cellphones, laptops, iPods and other power hungry devices get charged on their own, eliminating the need of plugging them in. Even better, because of WiTricity some of the devices won't require batteries to operate.

What's the Principle behind WiTricity? WiTricity - Wireless Electricity, these words are simpler said than done. The concept behind this fascinating term is a little complex. However, if you want to understand it, try and picture what I state in the next few lines. Consider two self resonating copper coils of same resonating frequency with a diameter 20 inches each. One copper wire is connected to the power source (WiTricity transmitter), while the other copper wire is connected to the device (WiTricity Receiver). The electric power from the power source causes the copper coil connected to it to start oscillating at a particular (MHz) frequency. Subsequently, the space around the copper coil gets filled with nonmagnetic radiations. This generated magnetic field further transfers the power to the other copper coil connected to the receiver. Since this coil is also of the same frequency, it starts oscillating at the same frequency as the first coil. This is known as 'coupled resonance' and is the principle behind WiTricity.

The key: Magnetically coupled resonance In contrast, WiTricity is based on using coupled resonant objects. Two resonant objects of the same resonant frequency tend to exchange energy efficiently, while interacting weakly with extraneous off-resonant objects. A child on a swing is a good example of this. A swing is a type of mechanical resonance, so only when the child pumps her legs at the natural frequency of the swing is she able to impart substantial energy. Another example involves acoustic resonances: Imagine a room with 100 identical wine glasses, each filled with wine up to a different level, so they all have different resonant frequencies. If an opera singer sings a sufficiently loud single note inside the room, a glass of the corresponding frequency might accumulate sufficient energy to even explode, while not influencing the other glasses. In any system of coupled resonators there often exists a so-called "strongly coupled" regime of operation. If one ensures to operate in that regime in a given system, the energy transfer can be very efficient. While these considerations are universal, applying to all kinds of resonances (e.g., acoustic, mechanical, electromagnetic, etc.), the MIT team focused on one particular type: magnetically coupled resonators. The team explored a system of two electromagnetic resonators coupled mostly through their magnetic fields; they were able to identify the strongly coupled regime in this system, even when the distance between them was several times larger than the sizes of the resonant objects. This way, efficient power transfer was enabled. Magnetic coupling is particularly suitable for everyday applications because most common materials interact only very weakly with magnetic fields, so interactions with extraneous environmental objects are suppressed even further. "The fact that magnetic fields interact so weakly with biological organisms is also important for safety considerations," Kurs, a graduate student in physics, points out. The investigated design consists of two copper coils, each a self-resonant system. One of the coils, attached to the power source, is the sending unit. Instead of irradiating the environment with electromagnetic waves, it fills the space around it with a non-radiative magnetic field oscillating at MHz frequencies. The non-radiative field mediates the power exchange with the other coil (the receiving unit), which is specially designed to resonate with the field. The resonant nature of the process ensures the strong interaction between the sending unit and the receiving unit, while the interaction with the rest of the environment is weak. Moffatt, an MIT undergraduate in physics, explains: "The crucial advantage of using the non-radiative field lies in the fact that most of the power not picked up by the receiving coil remains bound to the vicinity of the sending unit, instead of being radiated into the environment and lost." With such a design, power transfer has a limited range, and the range would be shorter for smaller-size receivers.

Still, for laptop-sized coils, power levels more than sufficient to run a laptop can be transferred over room-sized distances nearly omni-directionally and efficiently, irrespective of the geometry of the surrounding space, even when environmental objects completely obstruct the line-of-sight between the two coils. Fisher points out: "As long as the laptop is in a room equipped with a source of such wireless power, it would charge automatically, without having to be plugged in. In fact, it would not even need a battery to operate inside of such a room." In the long run, this could reduce our society's dependence on batteries, which are currently heavy and expensive. At first glance, such a power transfer is reminiscent of relatively commonplace magnetic induction, such as is used in power transformers, which contain coils that transmit power to each other over very short distances. An electric current running in a sending coil induces another current in a receiving coil. The two coils are very close, but they do not touch. However, this behavior changes dramatically when the distance between the coils is increased. As Karalis, a graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science, points out, "Here is where the magic of the resonant coupling comes about. The usual non-resonant magnetic induction would be almost 1 million times less efficient in this particular system." WORKING OF WITRICITY:

The Brain behind WiTricity? Prof. Marin Soljacic from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is the one who has proved that magnetic coupled resonance can be utilized in order to transfer energy without wires. What's even more interesting is how he came about this idea. Soljacic, just like any of us was fed up of his 'low battery' beeping cellphone and

wondered just like any of us if there was a way to get rid of this 'charging problem'. However, here is where the difference between Soljacic and any of us comes in. He didn't just stand there wondering, instead he tried to figure out if there existed any physical phenomenon which could be of some help. He remembered Michael Faraday's discovery of electromagnetic induction (1831) and used it to come up with WiTricity.

Is WiTricity a New Concept? No, this concept of wireless electricity is not new. In fact it dates back to the 19th century, when Nikola Tesla used conduction- based systems instead of resonance magnetic fields to transfer wireless power. Further, in 2005, Dave Gerding coined the term WiTricity which is being used by the MIT researchers today. Moreover, we all are aware of the use of electromagnetic radiation (radio waves) which is quite well known for wireless transfer of information. In addition, lasers have also been used to transmit energy without wires. However, radio waves are not feasible for power transmissions because the nature of the radiation is such that

it spreads across the place, resulting into a large amount of radiations being wasted. And in the case of lasers, apart from requirement of uninterrupted line of sight (obstacles hinders the transmission process), it is also very dangerous.

Why was WiTricity not Developed before? It is often said 'necessity is the best teacher' and can be applied in this case as well. Only in this century, has the need for wireless electricity emerged so rapidly, spearheaded by the agony caused by the cumbersome charging of endless devices. Earlier people didn't need it, so they didn't think about it.

How Safe is WiTricity? Human beings or other objects placed between the transmitter and receiver do not hinder the transmission of power. However, does magnetic coupling or resonance coupling have any harmful effects on humans? MIT's researchers are quite confident that WiTricity's 'coupling resonance' is safe for humans. They say that the magnetic fields tend to interact very weakly with the biological tissues of the

body, and so are not prone to cause any damage to any living beings.

What's the Future of WiTricity? MIT's WiTricity is only 40 to 45% efficient and according to Soljacic, they have to be twice as efficient to compete with the traditional chemical batteries. The team's next aim is to get a robotic vacuum or a laptop working, charging devices placed anywhere in the room and even robots on factory floors. The researchers are also currently working on the health issues related to this concept and have said that in another three to five years time, they will come up with a WiTricity system for commercial use. WiTricity, if successful will definitely change the way we live. Imagine cellphones, laptops, digital camera's getting self charged! Wow! Let's hope the researchers will be able to come up with the commercial system soon. Till then, we wait in anticipation! ADVANTAGES No need of line of sight. No need of power cables and batteries. Does not interfere with radio waves. Wastage of power is small . Negative health implications. Highly efficient than electromagnetic induction Less costly.

Disadvantages Wireless power transmission can be possible only in few meters. Efficiency is only about 40%. The resonance condition should be satisfied and if any error exists, there is no possibility of power transfer.