Weird Technology
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From their site: Utilizing principles of magentic induction, Using a shared magnetic field, Powermat technology transmits electrical power via an ultra-thin mat embedded in, or overlaid on, any surface or wall to any enabled electronic device placed on it.. So - the mat generates a (varying, if I remember basic electro-magnetism properly) magnetic field. The receiver sits inside the field, with a coil in which a current will be generated. So radiation? Well, yes, to a degree - all varying E-M fields emit E-M radiation, but it'll be a few watts maximum and probably at a low frequency (<100Hz), so will have very low energy photons. So you can call it radiation, in the same way that radio and TV signals are radiation.
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From their site: Utilizing principles of magentic induction, Using a shared magnetic field, Powermat technology transmits electrical power via an ultra-thin mat embedded in, or overlaid on, any surface or wall to any enabled electronic device placed on it.. So - the mat generates a (varying, if I remember basic electro-magnetism properly) magnetic field. The receiver sits inside the field, with a coil in which a current will be generated. So radiation? Well, yes, to a degree - all varying E-M fields emit E-M radiation, but it'll be a few watts maximum and probably at a low frequency (<100Hz), so will have very low energy photons. So you can call it radiation, in the same way that radio and TV signals are radiation.
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:laugh: Sometimes it does seem like it, though. All of your existing device charges use magnetic induction now, in the form of two coils of wire inside the brick that plugs in the wall or lies on the floor between the wall outlet and the device. Power from the wall outlet at 120V enters the first coil, is inductively transferred to the second, and exits to your device at a lower voltage. PowerMat just moves the point of induction closer to the device, eliminating multiple power cords in the process. It looks like a good solution to a tangled problem to me. :-D
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
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I wonder if this is a radiation safe technology. They had it at ces and basically you just stick your device on top of it without a plug and it charges it. http://www.powermatusa.com/[^] :confused:
KISS "Keep It Simple, Stupid"
Less dangerous than the electric power lines in your house (which, being unshielded, also radiate an EM field). Much less dangerous than electrical transmission lines which have an even larger, more intense EM field. And neither of the above is regarded as particularly risky to be near. Basically, it's just a transformer with the primary coil in the mat, and the secondary coil + rectifier circuitry in the "receiver" attached to the device being charged. Not magic.
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F = qv x B :omg:
---------------------------------------------------------- "unzip; strip; touch; finger; mount; fsck; more; yes; unmount; sleep" - my daily unix command list
Didn't remember that one (it was 20+ years ago!) - the only equation I could remember was photon energy, E=hν (that's a Greek small letter nu).
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I wonder if this is a radiation safe technology. They had it at ces and basically you just stick your device on top of it without a plug and it charges it. http://www.powermatusa.com/[^] :confused:
KISS "Keep It Simple, Stupid"
My toothbrush has been charging like this for the last 10 years. You place the brush-part on top of the charger -- no plug, no electrical connection -- and it just charges. There's no "radiation" involved (as in radioactive); just magnetic induction, the same way anything that plugs into a transformer (wall brick) works.
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I wonder if this is a radiation safe technology. They had it at ces and basically you just stick your device on top of it without a plug and it charges it. http://www.powermatusa.com/[^] :confused:
KISS "Keep It Simple, Stupid"
I saw a show on TV the other day about VWs Phaeton car facility. They have a mini assembly line where people can come and watch their car being built. The center of the floor was a big rotating disc where the engineers roll these toolboxes around that had a computer and several electric power wrenches which they used to assemble the car. Everything on the toolbox was powered by induction from the rotating floor.
Todd Smith
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I wonder if this is a radiation safe technology. They had it at ces and basically you just stick your device on top of it without a plug and it charges it. http://www.powermatusa.com/[^] :confused:
KISS "Keep It Simple, Stupid"
Is it just me or is that no less work than using wall sockets? I mean, you need a dock or a "disk" for most devices so far, and the mat only gives you so much room... Also if you're limited on desk space, you might only want to be charging your iPhone in front of you while you want everything else on the floor/by your bed/whatever. With this you can't do that, unless you have more than one mat, which defeats the purpose. I'm more interested in the induction technology that powers devices anywhere within a certain range, not just on a mat. This technology seems too transitional to be practical.
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I wonder if this is a radiation safe technology. They had it at ces and basically you just stick your device on top of it without a plug and it charges it. http://www.powermatusa.com/[^] :confused:
KISS "Keep It Simple, Stupid"
I feel a Douglas Adams quote coming on - "Oh no, not again". I've lost count of the number of times I've seen this technology demonstrated or discussed, usually by a startup you never here from again. I think I first read about it in New Scientist about 5 years ago but I'm sure it's been around a while. It's one of those brilliant ideas that won't get off the ground until one of the major industry players does it and the others want to get in on the act. Until then we have to keep suffering from cable hell.
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Didn't remember that one (it was 20+ years ago!) - the only equation I could remember was photon energy, E=hν (that's a Greek small letter nu).
Get 'ν' with
ν :rolleyes:-- Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time - Bertrand Russel
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Get 'ν' with
ν :rolleyes:-- Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time - Bertrand Russel
Or use a font which differentiates between lower-case v and nu - if you look at the page source (which for me is in Courier, not Arial or whatever the CP display font is), you'll see that is a nu.
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Or use a font which differentiates between lower-case v and nu - if you look at the page source (which for me is in Courier, not Arial or whatever the CP display font is), you'll see that is a nu.
Ah, sorry, thought you intentionally used a 'v' instead of a 'ν' because it was faster. :-D
-- Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time - Bertrand Russel
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I wonder if this is a radiation safe technology. They had it at ces and basically you just stick your device on top of it without a plug and it charges it. http://www.powermatusa.com/[^] :confused:
KISS "Keep It Simple, Stupid"
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When I was at school (a number of years decades ago) we were shown how it was possible to light a stip light just by being near overhead power lines!
Remember, nobody ever lends money to a man with a sense of humour!
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I wonder if this is a radiation safe technology. They had it at ces and basically you just stick your device on top of it without a plug and it charges it. http://www.powermatusa.com/[^] :confused:
KISS "Keep It Simple, Stupid"
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Ah, sorry, thought you intentionally used a 'v' instead of a 'ν' because it was faster. :-D
-- Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time - Bertrand Russel
Nah - looked up the right character in OS X's equivalent of character map. Should strictly have made it an entity I suppose, but as it happened, it made no difference because of the font CP uses :rolleyes: I did debate using f rather than nu, as they both represent frequency...but E = h{nu} is the common representation.
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F = qv x B :omg:
---------------------------------------------------------- "unzip; strip; touch; finger; mount; fsck; more; yes; unmount; sleep" - my daily unix command list
Or its derivative F = Bil x cos{teta} to calculate the force exerted on a wire of length l, under a magnetic field B, in which a current of i is circulating. {teta} is the angle between the wire and the magnetic field. Mmmpf... that was in Physics classes nearly 30 years ago. But I don't think either of these formulas apply, as we are not interested in forces, but in inducted current. I would thought the technology is based on a simple transformer: two coils in parallel; one in the matt, the other in the little white thingy. I wonder what the efficiency of the device is, since the dielectric medium is air. Very low I guess...
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I wonder if this is a radiation safe technology. They had it at ces and basically you just stick your device on top of it without a plug and it charges it. http://www.powermatusa.com/[^] :confused:
KISS "Keep It Simple, Stupid"
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It's not that power adapters are so cheap, but the after-market value is so huge to the companies that make them. The mark-up on the peripherals (phone charger/work charger/synch cable, etc) is where many of these companies make the most profit.
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I wonder if this is a radiation safe technology. They had it at ces and basically you just stick your device on top of it without a plug and it charges it. http://www.powermatusa.com/[^] :confused:
KISS "Keep It Simple, Stupid"
They laughed at Tesla when he suggested it. Can't wait until they build the wireless electricity broadcast towers :)