How does wireless charging work?
The wireless charging is a recent trending term in the world of smartphones. More and more people want to get rid of the wires and so, the smartphone charging will not be an exception. We explain what is wireless charging and its advantages.
Another name for wireless charging is inductive charging. This charging solution works on electromagnetic induction. It uses an electromagnetic field to transfer the energy between two devices.
Furthermore, the wireless charging involves a base station to charge the device or its batteries. More research is going on to use this type of charging in modern-day electric vehicles. It is very simple to charge on the inductive charging station and most importantly, there are no wires at all.
The brief history of wireless charging
The wireless charging was first tried by Nikola Tesla. He believed in inductive charging and set up a Tesla tower. He built a giant coil connected to the 200 feet tower. The tower had a ball of 3-feet diameter at the top. The experimental Tesla Tower failed as the power defused in all directions.
Furthermore, around 1894, a few more attempts were made to transfer power via induction. M. Hutin and M. Leblanc invented a device and method to power electric vehicles. However, an unfortunate rise of internal combustion engines made this technology irrelevant for that time.
In 2006, MIT started using resonant coupling for transferring a large amount of power to some distance. From this point, researchers began focusing on commercial use of this technology. Thus, it was a major milestone for inductive charging.
What is wireless charging?
First of all, this type of charging involves a loop of coils around a magnet. When we pass an electric current through the coil, it creates an electromagnetic field around the magnet. The second coil is placed in a device to be charged. It takes the power from the electromagnetic field and converts it into electric current. This electric current is then utilized to charge the battery.
So, the two devices in close proximity with induction coils act as an electrical transformer. The strength of the electromagnetic field reduces over a distance and hence, both devices should be very close. However, we can increase the distance between the two devices by resonant coupling.
The Qi wireless charging technology
The advancement in technology makes inductive charging cheaper. Hence, more and more people will be using this technology in the future. But, what if the wireless charging station keeps powering things that shouldn’t be charged? So, to avoid this drawback, a new Qi wireless charging standard came up with an intelligent solution.
In Qi wireless charging, the base station has a tiny transmitter and the device to be charged has the receiver. The receiver talks to the base station about the power requirement. Then, the base sends the power to the device. Thus, the base only sends the power when it confirms that the device to be charged has a Qi receiver.
Advantages and the future of inductive charging.
The first and foremost advantage of inductive charging is that we can get rid of wires. In addition, we don’t need to carry the adapter everywhere we go. The connection is safe from any corrosion. This type of charging is durable as it entirely eliminates the need to plug and unplug the device.
This technology has numerous applications for the electric vehicle industry. The inductive charging system eliminates the need for plugging in electric vehicles. You can put this type charging stations anywhere including roads and parking spaces. So, your car will keep on charging wherever you go. In the coming future, we can charge the cars on the go via wireless charging at higher power levels. So, the vehicles in motion keep on charging.
In conclusion, wireless charging has immense capabilities. In the coming years, more and more people would prefer this type of charging.
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