Flexible, Plastic Sheets of Power

bethr writes "Imagine never having to plug in an electronic device to get power? Researchers at the University of Tokyo have demonstrated prototype plastic sheets with copper coils that wirelessly supply power to any device that touches its surface. You just put down your laptop and the pad sends it power: 'An array of organic transistors that detect the position of the gadget and direct current flow.' Apparently, the researchers had enough time to create a spiffy video of their doll house model, complete with a mini Christmas tree, showing off the technology."

Comments

Great idea!

[tehSpork]

Nicola Tesla would be proud...

Ease of use

[Anonymous Coward]

If they can make this cheap (a few bucks?) then I would prefer it to having to plug my cell phone in. Much easy to lay my cell phone down flat than plugging it in (and sometimes breaking the connector after n uses). Same with laptop (cause I move around with it a lot).

I agree not everyone is willing to pay a few extra dollars for ease of use. But there are some who do. For example, I know people who bought the iPod over cheaper competing products with equal capacity because they preferred the click wheel navigation that saves time measured in seconds.

Re:Practical Applications

[Sparr0]

inductance-using Wireless mouse pad

Re:Practical Applications

[drawfour]

3) Stove top -- Pots/pans/ect would have their own unique heating elements & the entire stove top would be usable

There's already something similar to this -- induction cookers.

Go back to physics class

[Shaiku]

Apparently a lot of readers don't understand what induction is, and that this power pad works off that principle. Power isn't routed to a device on top of the pad like many people seem to think. There's no electrical contact between the power source and the device on top of the pad. The device in need of power will have a coil of wire. The power pad will detect where on the pad the device is and then create a virtual coil of wire underneath the device. The two coils of wire do not touch, but they are near enough each other that they create and air-core transformer. In other words, AC current traveling in the pad's coil will electro-magnetically INDUCE an AC current in the device's coil. This is really, really old science. The problem is that in order to transfer a significant amount of power efficiently, the two coils have to be closely coupled to one another. This means that the power pad's coil has to have a small cross-section and be located directly under the device to be powered. By detecting where the device is with, say, a pressure sensor, and then using semiconductors to dynamically route a current in a virtual coil directly underneath the device, this power pad allows for the device to be placed haphazardly in virtually any location on top of the pad. This is the same principle that Sonicare toothbrushes use to charge, but imagine now being able to put the toothbrush anywhere on the counter to charge instead of inside a dedicated charging station.

Re:fire

[Gnavpot]

3) Stove top -- Pots/pans/ect would have their own unique heating elements & the entire stove top would be usable

I liked your other ideas but this one is terrible. Every pot & pan in your kitchen would heat differently than the other, and not in that minor way that can be attributed to shape and thickness and easily judged at a glance.

For all known stove technologies, the heating depend somewhat on characteristics of the pots and pans used.

As others have mentioned, this induction technology is already on the market. We bought our induction stove 8 years ago. It is faster up and down than any other technology, including gas.

As long as we are using induction enabled pots and pans, the heat difference between each pot and pan is very small, and most important:

The differences are similar to the differences experienced with the same pots and pans on any other stove. As an example, a thick pan bottom will not change the heat effect, but temperature will change a little slower due to the extra heat capacity, while heat is distributed better due to the larger cross-sectional area.

Gas was once the best available stove technology. Today, it is only the best technology if you do not know induction or like to cling to old technology.

Re:Practical Applications

[repvik]

"3) Stove top -- Pots/pans/ect would have their own unique heating elements & the entire stove top would be usable"

Those are called "Induction tops", and are readily available (Atleast here in Norway). You buy special pots/pans/etc for your special stove. Induction heats the pots/pans/etc, and *only* those. Advantages are amongst others rapid heating, rapid cooling of the stove, no restrictions on placement on the stove.

Re:Slashpads?

[TheRaven64]

This kind of technology has been around for a while. The problem is not the technology, it's the lack of standards. If someone like the IEEE published a standard for induction charging that specified power and some kind of handshaking protocol between the charger and the device, it would be great. Imagine just putting your laptop down on the table in a coffee shop or in work, and having power and networking automatically work.

Without standards, however, the situation is the same as for mobile telephone chargers.

Re:Wow!

[Rolo Tomasi]

Read again. It doesn't say that there's any sort of communication involved, what they're saying is that RFID tags use the principle of electromagnetic induction.