New power transmission system developed

Japanese researchers have developed a flexible plastic sheet that can wirelessly transmit power to electronic devices.

Takao Someya and colleagues at the University of Tokyo said their wireless transmission system utilizes printing techniques that are already in use for the large-scale manufacture of organic electronic circuits and so can cover entire floors, walls or desks.

The power-transmission sheets use small position-sensing coils that are able to detect similar coils attached to the targeted electronic device. Once a target device is brought near the transmission sheet, the sheet senses the receiver coils and tiny switches activate the nearest sender coil to transmit a wireless power signal.

The researchers said the overall efficiency of the transmission in the study was 81 percent. That, they said, suggests the future common use of such sheets to power electronic devices in everyday environments.

The study appears online in the journal Nature Materials.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International