The new age of technology is amazing, isn’t it?
Information has never been as accessible as it is now; games, music, videos – all kind
of things are in your pocket at any time.
It's even kinda scary how attached we can become to our smartphones.
When the battery runs out, it’s nerve-racking, but unfortunately, it happens.
The more functions our devices provide, the more power they need, and they’re hungrier
than hungry hippos at this point!
That’s why charging technology is all the rage now, and the new big thing is wireless
charging.
It’s just too convenient not to be.
Even though we’re just now seeing this technology take off, the basics of how it works were
discovered not long after we started to understand what electricity is.
Near the end of the 19th century, engineering mastermind Nikola Tesla showed that two powerful
magnetic fields can slightly transfer energy between their sources when they interfere
with each other.
At that time, the scientific world found nothing more in it than perhaps just a cool party
trick, even if it showed some newly discovered things about electricity.
But what do you know – this trick found its use more than a hundred years later!
Electromagnetic force is one of the fundamental forces in physics.
Just break down the word, and you’ll have an idea: electricity and magnetism!
Basically, every object with enough power is a potential source of an electromagnetic
field.
When you switch on a lightbulb, it shines – you can see that!
But what you can’t see is the electromagnetic field that emerges around it!
It appears because the current starts to flow through the wiring and bulb.
Magnetism and electricity are two sides of one coin.
When electricity flows, it creates an electromagnetic field.
Just like that, when we talk about wireless energy transfer, we talk about electric current
running through coils of copper wire and creating that magnetic field.
The more wire – the more powerful the field will be.
Simple, right?
To make a strong electromagnetic field with copper wire, you need a lot of it.
Still, it’s one of the most fitting materials.
Copper is an unbeatable conductor of electricity, meaning it helps it flow instead of blocking
it.
It’s a lousy conductor of a symphony orchestra, but that’s something entirely different.
Copper also shields electric tech from excessive electromagnetic waves, like radio frequencies.
Finally, it’s incredibly resilient to corrosion and can withstand any kind of power provided
there’s enough wire.
In short, this stuff’s durable and effective!
The biggest surprise here is that the technology behind wireless charging hasn’t drastically
changed since Tesla.
It’s just that no one could find a decent use for it.
But today, most new mobile devices come with an electromagnetic coil wired into their hardware.
A similar coil, but bigger and more powerful, is inside the charger, which is plugged into
the socket.
Electricity comes to the charger and powers up the coil, which becomes the source for
an electromagnetic field.
When the charger’s field meets with the one that’s in your phone, they start to
interfere with each other, (much like little and big brothers) and the bigger field gives
charge to the smaller one.
This connection provides a safe way for the power to go from one coil to another.
The main problem engineers struggled with for a long time is that coils weren’t effective.
The power of the field depends on the number of coils you can fit in the device.
Until you can effectively and cheaply fit a reasonable amount of wire into the coil,
you can’t make anything useful out of it.
Another problem is that electromagnetic fields need to be close to each other to keep a strong
connection.
That’s why wireless chargers today come in the form of mats – you need to put your
phone right on it to get any juice at all.
You can’t just hold it up or even lay it down nearby – they need to touch!
Fortunately, fitting wire in a charger or a smartphone isn’t a huge challenge anymore,
so we’re finally seeing the mass production of such devices.
This new tech isn't huge yet because let’s face it – wires are still faster than an
electromagnetic field.
Wireless charging takes around double the time to charge a smartphone from 0% to 100%.
Plus, it’s called wireless, but it’s not really.
You still have to plug in the charger itself.
What about the convenience factor?
Yes, no more tangled cables lying around your house, but what if you want to charge your
phone somewhere else?
It’s still much easier to take a cord with you.
Some people are afraid that wireless charging can be harmful to their devices or even to
their health, but every new and unfamiliar technology has its skeptics.
There’s no way a short-range electromagnetic field can cause any harm to you.
After all, every device goes through innumerable tests before being launched to the public.
And as for your smartphone – it might even be better because it eliminates the possibility
of harmful electric discharges.
First made possible a century before, it isn’t without its flaws now, but futurologists (people
who study future possibilities) say that sooner or later, we may forget about wires altogether.
You can already see how this future is unfolding right now.
Some companies have started producing furniture with built-in wireless chargers.
Sure, it’s a little strange to plug in your table, but who wouldn’t be happy to charge
a smartphone just by laying it down?
And not just a smartphone; the list goes on: laptops without power cables and even road
lines that charge your electric car on the go.
The possibilities are endless!
What object would you like to be able to charge your phone with?
I’m gonna say my kitchen counter, I spend a lot of time there.
Feel free to share down in the comments!
As you can imagine, the whole method of electromagnetic charging won’t stay the same.
As with anything, it’ll only get better in the upcoming years.
New prototypes allow charging within 15 feet of the charger, and it’s able to charge
multiple devices at once!
Crazy, huh?
Eventually, devices could be as effective as a Wi-Fi router.
Then, you won’t need any wires in your home at all.
And a newly discovered kind of interference with the electromagnetic field means improved
power and faster charging!
But electromagnetic charging may want to speed up in its development; other competitors are
coming in fast, and some of them are on the rise.
Like resonance charging, it’s not entirely different, still uses electromagnetic waves,
but on a particular frequency.
The charger and receiver are both on the same frequency, and that provides better results.
This way, the energy transmitted isn’t lost but focused only on the charging device.
Resonance charging will be good for devices with a high level of power usage, like cars,
laptops, or even some robots.
It’ll work within a 15-foot radius while providing plenty of power.
It’s also safe to use; it’ll cause absolutely no negative effects on devices, people, or
pets.
And batteries may not even be needed in some devices you use at home because the resonance
charger will provide a constant power supply.
Another idea researchers are considering is laser charging.
It may be extremely powerful and focused, but it has big bugs to work out first.
A laser will work on any distance but needs a clear line of sight to the device.
If interrupted, it won't work at all.
The most problematic thing here is that lasers aren’t that safe.
But the possibility of laser charging isn’t ruled out yet, scientists might make a discovery
to fix these issues.
Some other fresh research is aimed at the use of infrared light-waves, radio signals,
or even ultrasound waves to charge phones and other devices.
The results are quite surprising: looks like it’d be possible to charge a phone with
any sounds, like background noise or the sound of your own voice.
For a talkative person that lives in a big noisy city, that’ll be a must-have feature!
Add to this the fact that batteries too will change in upcoming years, and you may feel
dizzy from all the possibilities the future holds for us.
Moving away from lithium-ion based batteries will not only make them safer but also more
effective.
For example, one idea suggests using safe and non-flammable organic materials to make
batteries.
These batteries will be used in smaller electric vehicles, and they’re supposed to be charged
in 2 minutes.
They’ll also have enough capacity to power a car on a 300-mile run.
Combine that with wireless charging and HELLO future!
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