(July 8, 2015) The
simultaneous charging of multiple mobile devices at 0.5 meter away from the
power source is now possible under the international electromagnetic field
guidelines.
Mobile devices, such as smartphones and laptops, have become
indispensable portable items in modern life, but one big challenge remains to
fully enjoying these devices: keeping their batteries charged.
A group of researchers at KAIST has developed a
wireless-power transfer (WPT) technology that allows mobile devices to be
charged at any location and in any direction, even if the devices are away from
the power source, just as Wi-Fi works for Internet connections. With this
technology, so long as mobile users stay in a designated area where the
charging is available, e.g., the Wi-Power zone, the device, without being
tethered to a charger, will pick up power automatically, as needed.
The research team led by Professor Chun T. Rim of the
Nuclear and Quantum Engineering Department at KAIST has made great strides in
WPT development. Their WPT system is capable of charging multiple mobile
devices concurrently and with unprecedented freedom in any direction, even
while holding the devices in midair or a half meter away from the power source,
which is a transmitter. The research result was published in the June 2015
on-line issue of IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, which is entitled “Six
Degrees of Freedom Mobile Inductive Power Transfer by Crossed Dipole Tx
(Transmitter) and Rx (Receiver) Coils.”