Wireless Charging

As I sit in my new boss' office, all I can focus on is the mess of wires that are scattered across the desk.  Why did he chose to connect his entire computer system on top of his desk, out in the open, instead of the back wall on the credenza as my former boss did?  Staring at these wires are a huge distraction and look like a huge mess of spaghetti all over the place. 

 

Wireless charging has been around for a long time. In short, wireless charging involves using a loop of coiled wires around a bar magnet (inductor) so that electric current can pass through the coil to create an electromagnetic field around the magnet, which then transfers voltage (a charge) to a nearby object.  Nowadays, wireless power stations use a mat with an inductor inside it to help transfer the charge to the device. Although the basic concept of wireless charging has been understood for more than a century, scientists hadn't figured out a way to efficiently transfer large amounts of power using this technique, especially without huge financial costs. But all that has changed in recent years. Technology research has proven that simply using very flat coils of wire enable many loops to be coiled around a tiny bar magnet, sufficiently creating the magnetic field that is necessary to create the charge needed.

To ensure that the wireless charging station doesn't power an errant object, wireless power stations use tiny transmitters that communicate with small receivers connected to a device, such as a phone or even game controller.  The receiver connected to the device allows communication to the mat to indicate that “yes” I am a device to receive power.  The device also has indicators to tell the end-user that a charge is in process, how much power is needed to fully charge the connected device, and when the device is fully charged.

With this technology, imagine my boss’ desk. What if there was just a mat on the top surface that could charge his laptop, keyboard and mouse and his cell phone?  That would help eliminate the need for at least 4-5 wires that are a portion of the pile of “spaghetti” all over his desk.  The mat would also function to protect the wood surface when signing documents.  No more figuring out what plug charges his personal phone versus company phone.  The remote for the TV could also be powers this way - no more batteries!  How about the after-hours game system controllers too!  Maybe one day technology would figure out how to get enough power through such mat to power the monitor and the printer.  With wireless printers already around, this would make everything on his desk attached to the computer completely wireless and ready to use.  Now, if we could only get the office desk phone set up this way!