Wireless Charging System Spans 1m Gaps

Wireless power isn't new – Palm Pre owners have the option of it with the Touchstone accessory, but it's also used in electric toothbrushes and various other applications – but the devices in question usually have to be very close or touching.  Showa Aircraft Industry Co Ltd, however, have developed a contactless power supply system that can bridge up to a 1m gap.

Their system uses an electromagnetic induction method, similar to those already in common circulation, but not the same resonance approach.  According to Showa Aircraft Industry, transmission efficiency between 60cm coils is 90-percent or more, with no heating issues experienced by anything put in-between those coils.

To demonstrate this, Showa suspended an array of ten 100W bulbs 60cm above their coil, and put a metal frying pan in-between; the latter did not heat up.  They expect the technology to be used for recharging the electrical systems of vehicles, for instance trucks using an external supply to power their freezer compartments when stationary.  However the technology could also be used to recharge electric cars, perhaps even when paused at traffic lights or parked in car-parks, without the healthy & safety or security hazard of a physical connection.

[via Tech-On!]