Maybe we have a future with no charging cords and just being at home and your phone is automatically charging from your “Wireless Charging Router”.

Sorry if this sounds stupid lol. I like to imagine weird ways we can use technology.

  • phanto@lemmy.ca
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    1 month ago

    Not stupid at all. I think I read that Disney has something like that for charging communications equipment at the parks. (I could be remembering wrong, I am internet brain-addled.) You know the crazies would hate it, though. Smart money says that there’s an entirely port-free iPhone in the next five years.

  • BombOmOm@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I believe you would end up inducing currents in any metal surface in the house. Causing them to heat up, or if they are un-shielded electronics, zapping them.

  • shyguyblue@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Biggest problem with this is the inverse square law.

    Notice: The numbers from the example are pulled out of my ass, but the concept is there.

    Basically, if you double the distance (x2) from source and receiver, available power will be 25% (x0.25). If you triple the original distance (x3) then available power will be 10% (x0.10) (Not the real math, but it’s along the line)

    If you can pump out enough EM to cover all areas you’ll need, but not so much that it’ll fry devices closer to the source, I don’t see why you couldn’t get this to work in theory. I just wouldn’t want to pay the power bill required to overcome the EM field drop-off.

      • Hello_there@fedia.io
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        1 month ago

        That’s actually a thing. I saw a video reporting on some trade show and they were able to do something with a laser to energize a small device. Something a bit more intensive than a led but not by much.

  • Godort@lemmy.ca
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    1 month ago

    I would seriously doubt it, not because it’s impossible, but because it’s massively impractical.

    It turns out that wireless charging is shockingly inefficient. The antennas you would need are way bigger than you could carry practically, and the amount of power you receive is very tiny compared to the amount of voltage you’re pushing through.

    A YouTuber I like actually built a setup like this in a recent video.

  • MrJameGumb@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I don’t think it sounds stupid at all! I looked up some info on this and it appears the technology already exists in that RF and Infrared chargers can charge a device across the distance of a room already. I would worry about the safety aspects of the average consumer having access to some kind of wireless charging “router” though. With wifi if someone sets something up incorrectly the worst that could happen is that they just don’t have good wifi, or they inadvertently give all the houses around them access to it, or someone hacks into it and steals their data. What would happen if someone manages to set up a charging router incorrectly? You could have overheating issues that could lead to battery degradation or even injuries. If some nefarious person gained access to it they could tell when Aunt Sally is using her rechargeable dildo, or they could make someone’s TV remote blow up in their hand, or set someone’s phone on fire in their pocket possibly?

    I’ll be honest I’m no expert on such things so this is all speculation on my part. I’m just very paranoid about this kind of thing. I suppose such a router could be restricted to only emmit a safe level of charging power but wouldn’t that mean some items charge quickly while larger items take hours or even days to get a full charge?

  • forty2@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Ok, blue-skying a bit here…

    There’s this YouTube channel I check out occasionally. The YouTuber built a “wireless desk” where everything from the lamp to the mouse, keyboard, and even a coffee warmer were wirelessly powered.

    Wireless Powered Desk

    The core of it was a large induction loop built into the desk’s perimeter, paired with some surprisingly compact receiver dongles. Some parts required deeper DIY, like opening up the mouse and inserting a small receiver, but overall it was cool

    Scaling that concept up for an entire house is a wild thought… but kind of exciting!

    • Evil_Incarnate@sopuli.xyz
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      1 month ago

      This is the only real solution. I would imagine a whole series of induction loops, that activate by sensing there is a device to power. Toaster from the kitchen can be moved to the table to do breakfast, put your phone down anywhere and it charges, vacuum the house wirelessly and without a battery. Take the espresso machine to your home office when working an all nighter.

  • zxqwas@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    The energy in a wave is inversely proportional to distance squared. In other words if you double the distance you get one quarter of the power.

    For information transfer like wifi this does not matter as long as it’s enough to be detected.

    For power transfer this becomes a huge problem quickly because it’s the energy itself that is being transferred.

    • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      It’s also important to note thst the increased power required significantly better cooling- on both devices.

      Nikola Tesla did a lot of research on inductive transmission and found it was basically useless for high power and long range. (Interestingly, he wanted to create a shield that would fry anything metallic coming near it. Like artillery shells and airplanes. Besides the power demands being utterly ridiculous, it could have conceivably worked.)

  • Treczoks@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    If you want to drive your vacuum cleaner by wireless energy, you’ll probably need energy levels in the air that would also kill flies and mosquitoes. And pets and people, too.

      • LostXOR@fedia.io
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        1 month ago

        We just need a targeting system to detect the bugs (maybe use LiDAR?) and shoot them with high power pulsed IR lasers. There’s absolutely no way this idea could go wrong.

        • Treczoks@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          Someone did this already. His safeguard is that the laser he used is placed on the wardrobe and only covers the top 10cm of the room

  • 9point6@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    You world effectively be living in a microwave if it provided enough power for everything