WiTricity

WiTricity
Founder Marin Soljačić
Headquarters Watertown, United States
Key people
 Alex Gruzen, CEO
Website www.witricity.com

WiTricity is an American engineering company that manufactures devices for wireless energy transfer using resonant energy transfer based on oscillating magnetic fields.

History

The term WiTricity was used for a project that took place at MIT, led by Marin Soljačić in 2006.[1][2] The MIT researchers successfully demonstrated the ability to power a 60 watt light bulb wirelessly, using two 5-turn copper coils of 60 cm (24 in) diameter, that were 2 m (7 ft) away, at roughly 45% efficiency.[3] The coils were designed to resonate together at 9.9 MHz (wavelength ≈ 30 m) and were oriented along the same axis. One was connected inductively to a power source, and the other one to a bulb. The setup powered the bulb on, even when the direct line of sight was blocked using a wooden panel. Researchers were able to power a 60 watt light bulb at roughly 90% efficiency at a distance of 3 feet. The research project was spun off into a private company, also called WiTricity.

The emerging technology was demonstrated in July 2009 by CEO Eric Giler at the TED Global Conference held in Oxford.[4][5] There he refers to the original idea, first applied by the physicist Nikola Tesla between his coils,[6] and shows a WiTricity power unit powering a television as well as three different cell phones, the initial problem that inspired Soljacic to get involved with the project.

Automobile manufacturer Toyota made an investment in WiTricity in April 2011.[7][8]

In September 2012, the company announced it would make a $1000 demonstration kit available to interested parties, to promote development of commercial applications.[9]

CEO Alex Gruzen was hired in 2014, and decided to take WiTricity out of the competition for powering consumer electronics, and focus on wireless power for vehicles. (Though it demonstrated wireless power for a Dell laptop at the January, 2017 Consumer Electronics Show). The company has reportedly collaborated with car makers Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Jaguar, Nissan, and Toyota. In 2017, having raised $68 million to date and facing competition from the wireless vehicle standard Halo (developed by Qualcomm), the company reduced its workforce from 80 to 55, and closed an office in Austin, Texas.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Wireless electricity could power consumer, industrial electronics". MIT News. 2006-11-14.
  2. ↑ "Goodbye wires…". MIT News. 2007-06-07.
  3. ↑ "Wireless Power Demonstrated". Archived from the original on 2008-12-31. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
  4. ↑ Fildes, Jonathan (2009-07-23). "Wireless power system shown off". BBC News Online. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
  5. ↑ "Eric Giler demos wireless electricity". TED. July 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
  6. ↑ http://www.ted.com/talks/eric_giler_demos_wireless_electricity#t-15992
  7. ↑ Gordon-Bloomfield, Nikki (Apr 28, 2011). "Toyota Joins Wireless Electric Car Charging Revolution". Green Car Reports. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  8. ↑ "TMC and WiTricity Form Wireless Battery-charging Alliance". Toyota Motor Corporation. April 27, 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  9. ↑ Scott Kirsner (2012-09-17). "Flying electricity and neighborhood news". Boston Globe.
  10. ↑ WiTricity takes a turn toward electric-car charging
  11. ↑ Electrical recharging using electrosmog

Reference articles

  • Andre Kurs; Aristeidis Karalis; Robert Moffatt; J.D. Joannopoulos; Peter Fisher; Marin Soljačić (July 2007). "Wireless power transfer via strongly coupled magnetic resonances". Science. 317 (5834): 83–86. Bibcode:2007Sci...317...83K. doi:10.1126/science.1143254. PMID 17556549. Published online: June 2007
  • "Eric Giler demos wireless electricity". TED.
  • "Supporting Online Material for Wireless Power Transfer via Strongly Coupled Magnetic Resonances". Science Magazine.
  • Anuradha Menon (2008-11-14). "Intel's Wireless Power Technology Demonstrated". The Future of Things e-magazine. Archived from the original on 2010-12-09.
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