Energy Empire: a room for wireless charging of gadgets has been created in the Russian Federation

Russian engineers have created a room for wireless charging of any electrical devices. Once in a space of 4x4m, the gadget is powered at about the same speed as through a wire. To get electricity on the device, it is enough to install a small receiver. The more energy-hungry equipment there is in a room, the more efficient it works. According to the developers, staying in the system's operating area is absolutely safe for human health. Experts point out that the introduction of technology can also dramatically change user behavior patterns, as it once did with Wi-Fi. However, detailed research is needed to provide clear answers about the effect of the invention on the body.

A new charging method for any number of devices

ITMO scientists have proposed a new method of wireless energy transmission. Based on it, they created a room in which you can charge an unlimited number of electronic devices without using wires. According to the creators, the development is completely safe for humans and the speed of energy transfer is similar to conventional wired charging.

Photo: ITMO

The prototype is a space with an area of 4x4m and a height of about 2.5 m. To recharge the device, it is enough to put it within the room. Since wireless power transmission takes place at a certain frequency (1 MHz), charging requires using a separate receiver device for energy transmission: for example, it can be made in the form of a phone case. The room is connected to the power grid through a special generator and consumes about 100-200 watts, which is comparable to the power of a working computer or a large TV.

— Our development can be adapted to different sizes and shapes, integrated into different rooms. In the future, we plan to assemble a new room and focus on polarization — the direction of the magnetic field. Right now, we only have horizontal polarization, which means that the devices will only be charged in this position. We also want to add the possibility of charging in other positions," said one of the authors of the development, Aigerim Dzhandalieva, a junior researcher at the ITMO Wireless Technology Research Laboratory.

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In the room, you can charge an unlimited number of devices wirelessly using a volumetric resonator. Unlike its analogues, it has a uniform distribution of the amplitude of the magnetic field and allows you to charge devices with the same efficiency anywhere in the room. This was achieved due to the special geometry of the Helmholtz coil transmitter, which consists of two rings.

Photo: ITMO

The technology is suitable for charging various types of devices: smartphones, lighting fixtures, smart home sensors, laptops, computers, fans. The more devices there are, the higher the efficiency of the room — the ratio of the power used and the power that is used to operate the room. One of the promising areas of application of the approach is charging devices in warehouses, including wearable electronics, smart home sensors, industrial sensors and robotic systems.

Safety for humans

— It is safe to stay in the room - the specific absorption coefficient of electromagnetic energy, which determines the magnitude of the harmful effects of electromagnetic fields on humans, is several tens of times lower than the maximum permissible by international standards. The electric field is completely localized inside the closed zone around the perimeter of the resonator and does not affect people," Aigerim Dzhandalieva said.

The technology created by ITMO scientists is very convenient and will solve the problem of an overabundance of wires and plugs. However, its mass distribution may be hindered by user concerns about harm to health, says Denis Kuskov, CEO of the analytical agency TelecomDaily.

— The idea is interesting, but 99% of people will be concerned about the question of whether such a device affects their health. There is a prejudice against conventional base stations, and we are talking about rooms where a person spends a lot of time or even sleeps," he said.

Photo: ITMO

According to Stanislav Stragnov, head of the Laboratory for the analysis of public health indicators and digitalization of healthcare at MIPT, further research is needed in order to draw unambiguous conclusions about the impact of technology on health.

— It is still difficult to assess the security of the technology, as more data is needed for this. However, by the time the development is put into practice and on the market, it will still be improved and will undergo the necessary security checks," he noted.

According to the expert, it is reasonable to leave gadgets in the room for recharging, but not to be in it yourself.

The proposed technology can change the device usage model as much as it did with Wi-Fi Internet connection, Ruslan Permyakov, deputy director of the NTI Competence Center for Trusted Interaction Technologies, is convinced.

— If the technology is really safe for humans, as stated, this is a significant achievement, since most wireless chargers operate on the principle of magnetic fields, which can have an impact on health. Security removes barriers to mass use. There are still issues of electromagnetic compatibility: for example, how medical devices such as heart rate stimulators or insulin pumps will behave in such a room," he said.

Photo: ITMO

Walk-in closets and public spaces with the function of charging gadgets may become popular in shopping malls, airports, cafes and other public places where people can charge their gadgets without being tied to sockets, the expert added.

As Anton Averyanov, CEO of the ST IT Group of companies, TechNet NTI market expert, noted, the technology is promising for use in smart homes. Now the issue of powering these systems needs to be addressed at the design stage, wiring or constantly changing batteries.

— Both processes require a large number of actions, and they are quite complex. This technology will allow you to place smart home devices at any time and not think about their power supply. The method is useful for office and residential premises with a large amount of equipment. It can help get rid of wires if it does not create side effects on wireless Internet networks, the expert believes.

Huawei demonstrated a similar development in the foreign market several years ago, but it has not yet reached the masses, the specialist added.

Photo: ITMO

The technology is promising, but it will be difficult to scale it, since not all buildings have the capacity to accommodate such rooms, for example, due to outdated wiring, said Timofey Voronin, Deputy Director for technology Transfer at the NTI Competence Center for Big Data Storage and Analysis Technologies. It can be used at transport infrastructure facilities, educational institutions, and congress centers. But this requires further developments necessary to increase the area of such spaces, he concluded.