The technological development in this era is unpredictable. For the improvement of an existing technology or to come up with a new technology, the technical experts are working all the day. The ever changing technology makes the people easier to live in this world. Several reasons that make a company feel to update their technology with time include shortage of skilled labour, change in the lifestyle of the people, ever-growing competition, convenience, safety and security and so on.
Wi-Fi Charging Technology
Running out of battery charge in Mobile phones and other electronic gadgets is a very common issue in the day to day life. Several companies tried to bring out the best back up batteries. Some companies even came forward with charging electronic equipments using solar rays, but what happens at night? Most of the techniques failed. Finding a plug point has become a tiresome task for the people who make frequent journeys and travel. Battery run out charge especially in case of some emergency situations.
Wi-Fi Charging technology is a technology used to charge electronic gadgets from the Wi-Fi signals. Most of the offices and public places uses wireless internet. This equipment can capture that signals and produce electricity. Thus produced electricity is converted from AC to DC and is stored in a Lithium battery so that it can charge electronic equipment when ever required even in the absence of Wi-Fi coverage.
Block Diagram of Wi-Fi Charging Technology
A Typical Wi-Fi Charger for Mobile Phones
Working of Wi-Fi Charging Technology
The technology used here is energy harvesting from the radio signals. A Wi-Fi charger is designed to operate at low frequency electromagnetic waves (Radio Frequency). Here the Wi-Fi transmitting device acts as the power source which transmits the low frequency radio waves also called the Wi-Fi signals. Wi-Fi charger at the receiving end has an antenna, connected to a Rectifier Circuit which is in turn connected to a rechargeable Lithium ion battery. The function of the antenna is to receive the transmitted Wi-Fi signal and harvests the energy from it. Thus a small Alternating current is produced at the receiver antenna which is then passed through the Rectifier circuit where it gets converted to Direct current which is suitable for charging the electronic gadgets. The Direct current thus obtained is stored in the Lithium Battery so that it is preserved and can be used when ever required.
Technological Advantages
There are plenty of technological advantages for Wi-Fi charging Technology. The main advantages are as follows:
(i). Power over distance
Signals from Wi-Fi are transmitted over a wide area which covers a whole building or may be a park. This becomes advantageous for the charger to get charged by placing it any were with in that specific area. It can also be mobilised as it is free from wall plug and wire.
(ii). One to many
This is one of the advantages that make Wi-Fi charging more unique. With just a single Wi-Fi transmitter acting as the power source, lot of gadgets could be charged at a time. The interesting factor is that no extra power is consumed for each extra gadget to be charged.
(iii). No Hazards for living organisms
Radio waves have become part of our daily life as it is used for devices such as radio, televisions, mobile phones etc. Though Radio waves of certain frequency range and more are harmful, studies have proved that Electromagnetic waves with the range of frequency used by Wi-Fi does not create damage to any of the cells of living organisms such as people and animals. This has been scientifically regarded safe by organisations like WHO.
(iv). Simplicity in design
The design of charger at the receiving end is as simple as that of an ordinary charger. It just replaces the wire of an ordinary charger by an antenna and requires only a rectifier circuit for Alternating current to Direct current conversion and a battery to store the charge.
Drawbacks
This innovative technology has very few disadvantages.
*The Wi-Fi charging is limited to those places where Wi-Fi is enabled and so it can hardly be used in most of the rural areas where wired internet connections are still in use. It is also not practical to carry a Wi-Fi transmitter along with the charger. So the growth and popularity of this technology is always depended on the increase in the usage of Wi-Fi around the world.
*The Lithium ion battery used in the charger has a poor life cycle. As the battery becomes old and is fully charged, the charge in it does not last as one in the new battery does. Thus the battery has to be replaced as it gets older and so the maintenance of the battery is costly.
*It usually takes hours for recharging equipment as its medium of transfer of power results low voltage.
But with the numerous advantages it has got, these drawbacks can be negligible.
Application of Wi-Fi Charging Technology
Every electronic device requires electric charge to charge their battery andoperate. There are different sources to produce charge. It can be obtained directly from the power supply using a charger or even by different techniques such as energy harvesting from solar energy using the photovoltaic cells, or it can be obtained from thermoelectric devices etc. But the final output all these power sources are electric charge. Electricity is normally transferred from the power source to various devices or machines through wired connections. Wi-Fi connection in this modern world is the most common technology used by all businesses, institutions, and households. In earlier days wired Internet networks were very common and Wi-Fi connections were very costly that people could not afford to have one. But now by the advancement technology this has become more common and is affordable to all people.
Wi-Fi charging is an emerging technology of the modern world. Charging an electronic device without using wires is the basic idea behind Wi-Fi charging. Wi-Fi charging is in its early stages of development. But as the usage of electronic devices are very vast there are number of consumer, industrial, and commercial applications for Wi-Fi charging.
Commercial and Industrial Applications
Some of the Commercial and industrial applications of Wi-Fi charging are as follows:
Wi-Fi charging can be used to charge the bar code reader which is used in large
Super markets and Retail stores. Usually barcode readers can be found with wires and even wireless barcode readers using a rechargeable battery can also be found. The one with wire can be easily made wireless by replacing the wire with a Wi-Fi charger and the barcode reader using the rechargeable battery can never run out of battery with the use of Wi-Fi charger. This will be very advantageous as barcode readers are used through out the business hours.
Wi-Fi charging can be used for security applications such as closed circuit television camera (CCTV) as it needs to be working all the time. The use of this technology here can ensure that the camera will never run out of battery and will always be in the working mode. The cameras which comes along with wire are difficult to be installed in various places as there should be a plug point near by. To overcome this difficulty, Wi-Fi charging technology can be used.
Wi-Fi charging technology can also be used in certain sensors and digital
Temperature measuring devices which uses the rechargeable battery for their operation.
Wi-Fi charging technology can be used in the operation of various smartcard readers which uses rechargeable batteries as their power source.
Wi-Fi charging technology can make a lot of changes in Medical Industry where a
lot of Medical equipment such as portable monitoring devices operates using rechargeable batteries and these equipments are always used in emergency situations.
Consumer Applications
Wi-Fi charging technology can be used in many commercial applications.
Some of the main applications were it can be used are:
Mobile Phones
Laptops
Game Controllers
Mp3 players and Ipods
This technology can be used for these devices even if they are being mobilised or kept stationary. Some of the other stationary devices, where this technology can be implemented, are:
Digital Photo Frames
Computer accessories such as printers, scanners etc.
Future enhancements of Wi-Fi charging Technology
In future the rechargeable batteries of mobile phones, laptops and other electronic gadgets can be designed in the way that Wi-Fi charging technology is embedded in it so that the use of external charging equipments including Wi-Fi chargers can be avoided in Wi-Fi enabled areas.
In place of Rectifying circuit at the receiving end there is a scope for replacing it with some suitable Alternating current amplifying circuit or some similar circuitries, so that the resulting Alternating current can be used for the operation of all the electrical devices which require more power. If this becomes possible then it can be a great threat to the emerging technology called WiTricity or wireless electricity where electricity is passed without wires but only within a short distance of some 10 meters.
Conclusion
Wi-Fi Charging Technology is one of the most promising among the emerging technologies of today. Even if it is not vastly used at present there can be a dramatic growth of this technology in the immediate future. As most of the industries at present use the wireless internet and moreover people would aspire using the devices which are free from wires, it is anticipated that this technology is going to become a part of daily life.
Wi-Fi Charging Technology is definitely going to be appreciated by the industries as well as the consumers as it is proven to be non hazardous and also a great power saver. So this technology would definitely make a good impact on the emerging technology market.
By considering all these factors, here we conclude that Wi- Fi charging technology is going to occupy an important place among the most admired technologies of future.
