Wireless Power Is Coming

In a very real sense it is already here in part. Wireless Charging is becoming mainstream. But seriously powering a device wirelessly has been a difficult challenge and there are many who think it will never be effective unless done at power levels that would be unsafe.

So it was with interest that I read of Cota by Ossia which claims to be able to deliver 1W of real power in a regular home in a way that is not only safe but well advanced in their approval process with the FCC for use in the USA.

Qi Wireless Charging

There are several efforts to product ubiquitous wireless charging and we are already working with one of those technologies. This is Qi Wireless Charging and chipsets and standards have been agreed as part of the Wireless Power Consortium. This creates one very useful ecosystem where devices and chargers from different manufacturers are interoperable.

Qi wireless

Qi works by using inductive coupling and some smart power devices that communicate with each other over the coupling. This two way communications allows the power transmitter to optimise its performance to suit the power receiver.

Qi Tx Rx Block Diagram

Cota

So Cota is a very exciting new development that allows significant wireless power transfer at distances of metres rather than millimetres. The technology was officially unveiled at TechCrunch Disrupt 2013 in San Francisco. Backed by patents from 2007 and looking like it will soon gain FCC approval there is quite a buzz about the first commercially viable Wireless Power Technology.

Cota Hardware

I’ll be watching this space carefully because the applications for Wireless Sensor Networks is huge.

Successful Endeavours specialise in Electronics Design and Embedded Software Development. Ray Keefe has developed market leading electronics products in Australia for nearly 30 years. This post is Copyright © 2013 Successful Endeavours Pty Ltd.