Transcript Wireless Electricity - City University of New York

Wireless
Electricity
By Gavriel Gavrilov & Alexander Zaltsman
The first mover and innovator
Nikola Tesla (1856 - 1943)
“Nikola Tesla, the eccentric - and unbelievably
under-rated - genius known as the ‘wild man of
electronics’, was without doubt one of the greatest
minds in the history of the human race.”
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Born in Austro-Hungary (now Croatia) in 1856, Tesla constructed his first induction
motor in 1883 and immigrated to America in 1884 - arriving in New York with worldly
goods totaling four cents, a pocket full of poems, carefully worked calculations for a
flying machine, and a head full of strange dreams.
Tesla began working with Thomas Edison, but the two men were worlds apart in both
their science and cultures (the fact that Tesla's alternating-current concept posed a
direct threat to sales of Edison's direct-current devices probably didn't help) and they
soon went their separate ways.
Tesla invented the alternating-current generator that provides your light and electricity,
the transformer through which it is sent, and even the high voltage coil of your picture
tube. The Tesla Coil, in fact, is used in radios, television sets, and a wide range of other
electronic equipment - invented in 1891, no-one's ever come up with anything better.
Letting Tesla go wasn't the brightest thing Edison had
up the patent rights to
ever done, though - George Westinghouse promptly snapped
Tesla's alternating-current motors, dynamos, and transformers. The buy-out triggered a power struggle which eventually saw Edison's direct-current systems relegated to second place, and the DC motors
installed in German and Irish trains only a few years before, rendered obsolete.
The forgotten invention is reborn in
2007
The idea of wireless electricity has been
around since the early days of the Tesla
coil. But thanks to a group of MIT
scientists, "WiTricity" (as these scientists
call it) is now one step closer to practical
reality.
Demonstrating the ability to power a 60watt light bulb from a power source seven
feet away without wires might not seem
like the most impressive of feats, but the
technology behind it has massive
implications for how we live our techfilled, power-hungry lives. Imagine a day
when your laptop, MP3 or player are
constantly charged by power sent through
the air via an electromagnetic field.
How it would look and work in your office or bedroom
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A Starbucks where you can use
the restroom for free, use their
Wi Fi for free and get a quick
charge for your cell phone all
without buying a “venti white
chocolate mocha” for $4.00
plus tax.
WWW.SPLASHPOWER.COM
Splashpower Ltd. is a United Kingdom-based
company founded in June 2001. It has been
attempting to develop technology for wireless
charging of portable devices such as mobile
phones, personal digital assistants, mp3 players
and cameras. Their system works through
electromagnetic induction, adding a free
positioning induction loop (at the “SplashPad") to
the conventional fix induction loop at the wall
plug (used to shift between AC and DC currents).
According to the company's claims, rechargeable
devices equipped with a small Splash Module are
placed upon a mouse pad-sized SplashPad and
have their batteries recharged at a normal
rate.(Wikipedia)
Pros
Cons
• Significant decluttering of
office space
•No need for meter rooms
and electrical closets.
•Reduction of e-waste by
eliminating the need for
power cords
•Need more light in your
office, no need for electrician.
Simply place the lamp where
ever you need it.
•Need for standardization and
adaptation. So no overheating
occurs because of different
voltages.
•Retrofitting old equipment or
purchasing new equipment
could become a very
expensive endeavor
•possibility of “energy theft”.
Wi Fi, someone can be using
your internet or your power.
Incremental or Disruptive
• We believe wireless electricity incremental because it was
innovated at the end of the 1800’s and only last year it was
improved to a new technology.
• We can also say that it may become disruptive because if a
strong enough product is developed it will wipe out the
demand for chargers. Therefore charging will become
universal.
What it will replace
• Batteries
• Cords
• How it works
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tyOd9clpdcw
• Short biography on Nikola Tesla
• http://youtube.com/watch?v=gt8Y93k0pB0&f
eature=related