电能无线传输技术再现曙光

发布时间：2013-11-14 07:05 发布者：1770309616

目前，数百家公司都在投资电磁场无线电能传输技术，而且已经取得了一些进展。这项新技术的工作原理如何？它到底什么时候才能取代有线电缆，投入使用？又会给我们的生活带来哪些改变？

尼古拉•特斯拉是19世纪末20世纪初与托马斯•爱迪生相媲美的发明家。1901年，他从亿万富翁J.P.摩根那里获得资助，在纽约长岛修建了一座高达187英尺的无线电能传输塔——沃登克里弗塔。可惜项目最终失败，特斯拉本人也宣告破产。（特斯拉之前曾在科罗拉多州做过类似的实验，成功地将25英里之外的200盏灯点亮。不过据现场目击者称，他们能感到电流从地面穿过脚底，甚至当地居民在打开水龙头时，都能看到水流在哗哗放电……）

一个多世纪过去了，无线电能传输技术已取得了一些进展。一百多家公司正在研究这项技术，其中既有WiTricity和ProxybyPower等新创公司，又有丰田（Toyota）、英特尔（Intel）、三星（Samsung）和富士康（Foxconn）等跨国企业。目前的挑战在于：按照功率方程原理，让电能从通过电缆传输变成通过磁场传输。

电能在空气中传播时会转变为电磁场。所以我们可以非常安全地给手机等设备无线充电。现在普遍使用的无线充电式电动牙刷就是这个原理——电能通过磁场从电源传输给牙刷。市面上还有不少无线充电板，只要接通电源，再把手机放到上面就能无线充电。不过这种充电板有不少缺点：手机必须放得恰到好处，而且充电时间也很长。新西兰一家叫PowerbyProxy的公司发明了一套新系统，用户可以同时把多部手机摆放在充电板上的任何位置，充电速度很快，时间与传统方式相当。三星公司上个月宣布向PowerbyProxy投资400万美元。

下一个目标：无需充电板也能无线充电。位于马萨诸塞沃特敦的WiTricity公司在这个领域颇有作为。这家公司利用电磁谐振技术在空气中传输电能，意味着电能有望实现远距离无线传输。这项技术的基础是麻省理工学院（MIT）的研究成果，WiTricity持有独家专利。它的具体原理如下：如果两个谐振物体具有相同的频率，那么电能将非常精确地从一方传输到另一方。只要把谐振器插入插座，在另一边的电动汽车或手机里安装上对应的设备，它们就能接收到电能，开始充电。WiTricity称目前已能传输高达3300瓦特电能而损耗极小，这已经足够给一辆电动汽车充电了。WiTricity首席执行官埃里克•吉尔说：“我们都热爱电能，愿意不惜一切代价获得它。电能也许是我们最后一个希望无线化的东西，而这个目标必将实现。”

这个过程是否安全？吉尔称因为电能以电磁波的形式通过空气传输，这和地球的电磁场类似，所以对人类不会造成危害。美国联邦通讯委员会（FCC）对电磁场技术有不少规定，WiTricity自称它的设备都符合FCC的要求。不过，整个工业界仍面临巨大的挑战，需要在教育和宣传上不断努力，以打消广大消费者的顾虑。

英特尔和鸿海/富士康集团将无线充电技术视为笔记本和手机等电子设备的杀手级应用。它们在几周前投资了WiTricity公司。石油巨头斯伦贝谢（Schlumberger）是WiTricity的早期投资者，它希望新技术能减少自己油田里的电线数量，以节约维护成本。丰田公司也参与了投资，有消息称它计划测试一种用于插电式电动车的无线充电站。

Backed by the financier J.P. Morgan, Nikola Tesla, the inventor and rival to Thomas Edison, built in the early 1900s the Wardenclyffe Tower, a 187-foot-high structure on Long Island, which he said could transmit electricity wirelessly. The project failed, and Tesla ended up broke. (In an earlier experiment in Colorado, Tesla had wirelessly lit up 200 lamps over a distance of 25 miles, but pedestrians witnessed sparks jumping between their feet and the ground, and electricity flowed from faucets when turned on. Oops.)

Fast-forward over a century, and wireless electricity is finally gaining some traction. More than one hundred companies including startups such as WiTricity and ProxybyPower and giants such as Toyota (TM), Intel (INTC), Samsung, and Foxconn are investing in the technology. The challenge: to take the wires out of the power equation by transmitting electricity through magnetic fields.

When in the atmosphere, electricity exists as a magnetic field. The trick is to capture it safely to recharge devices. Today's electric toothbrushes charge wirelessly -- as power is transmitted through a magnetic field from the charger to the brush. You can already buy wireless recharging pads: Place your cellphone on a pad that's plugged into the wall, and it will recharge. These pads, however, have their limitations -- the cellphone has to be in the right position, and it can take a long time. A New Zealand company called PowerbyProxy has demonstrated a system where you can put multiple cellphones on a pad in any position, and it will charge the devices as fast as a traditional charger. Samsung last month invested $4 million in the company.

The next step: charging without being so tied to a pad. That's the technology a Watertown, Mass., company named WiTricity is developing. Based on work done at MIT, the technology -- on which the company holds exclusive patents -- uses magnetic resonance to move power through the air -- which means electricity can be moved farther distances without a wire. The way it works: Two devices resonate at the same frequency so that the magnetic waves can travel very precisely from one point to another. Plug a resonator into a wall outlet, and a device installed on a cellphone or an electric car receives the power and starts recharging. WiTricity says its system can move an impressive 3,300 watts -- enough to charge an electric car -- with little efficiency loss. Says Eric Giler, the CEO of WiTricity: "We all love electricity and are willing to do almost anything to get it. It will be the last thing to go wireless, but it will go wireless."

Is the process safe? Because electricity moves through the air as magnetic waves that are similar to the earth's magnetic waves, it poses no harm to humans, says Giler. The FCC has set limits for magnetic fields, and WiTricity claims its devices fall well below that threshold. The industry, however, will still face a tough time educating and persuading consumers that these devices are safe.

In recent weeks, Intel and Hon Hai/Foxconn, seeing wireless charging as a possible killer app for electronic devices such as laptops and cellphones, invested in WiTricity. Schlumberger, which is interested in cutting the number of wires in its oil rigs to save maintenance costs, was an early investor, as was Toyota, which is reported to have plans to test a wireless charging station for plug-in cars.

无线充电技术不仅在民用领域崭露头角，在其他领域也大放异彩。WiTricity正在和五角大楼合作，研究如何对美国军方的拆弹机器人无线充电。目前这些机器人需要人工更换电池，不少士兵在操作时会被敌方的狙击手枪击。无线充电将极大地避免伤亡。在医疗领域，病人们所使用的心脏辅助泵需要外接电源，很容易引起感染。WiTricity正在与心脏辅助泵制造商Thoratec合作开发无线充电装置。

这项新技术何时才能变为现实？目前所有领域都还在实验阶段，不过吉尔表示，我们有望在未来几年陆续看到相关的新产品面世。

到那时，我的手机充电器该何去何从呢？（财富中文网）

译者：项航

The technology has applications outside the consumer sphere as well. WiTricity is working with the Pentagon to wirelessly charge those robots that disarm bombs. When soldiers try to plug in the robots for recharging, they sometimes get shot by snipers. Doing it wirelessly would reduce the danger. In the medical world, patients with heart pumps have to have electric wires running out of their bodies, which can cause infections. WiTricity is working with heart pump maker Thoratec to create a wireless solution.

How long before this technology becomes a reality? All these applications are in the testing stage, but Giler says that within the next couple of years many of them will be hitting the market.

Until then, where did I put that cellphone charger again.

网友评论

1770309616 发表于 2013-11-14 07:06:36

Drink More Water Makes You Look Young英国女记者：日饮3升水 4周年轻10岁

You might think I'd have little in common with a camel, but we do share one useful skill: both of us can go for a very long time without water.

你也许觉得自己和骆驼没有什么相同点，但其实我们确实和骆驼有一种共同的技能：我们和骆驼一样可以长时间不喝水。

Usually I start my day with a cup of tea, then I might have a glass of water with my lunch and one with dinner - that's about a litre of liquid in 24 hours. It feels like plenty, but apparently it's not nearly enough.

通常我会早上喝一杯茶，然后可能中午吃饭的时候喝一杯水，晚上吃饭的时候再喝一杯水——也就是大约24小时内喝1升水。这似乎够多了，但实际上远远不够。

After years of suffering headaches and poor digestion I spoke to a neurologist about my regular headaches and a nutritionist about my poor digestion, and both told me I should be drinking up to three litres of liquid a day for my body to function at its best.

在常年受到头疼和消化问题的困扰之后，我和一位神经科医生谈到我的头痛症，又和一位营养科医生谈到我消化功能差的问题，两位医生都建议我，必须一天喝多至3升的水，身体才能运转正常。

I decided to conduct an experiment. What would happen if I drank the recommended amount every day for a month?

我决定进行一项实验，看看如果我按医生的建议每天喝足量的水，会发生怎样的变化？

The photograph of me taken the day I started this trial demonstrates perfectly - and rather frighteningly - what a lack of hydration does to a face.

在开始实验前一天我给自己拍了一张照片，这张照片清楚——并且令人恐惧的——证实了缺水对面部皮肤带来的损害。

I am 42, but have to admit I look more like 52 in this picture, which is shocking. There are dark shadows under and around my eyes, which make me look exhausted, a profusion of wrinkles and strange reddish blotches, and my skin lacks any lustre. It looks dead.

我现年42岁，但可怕的是，我必须承认在这张照片里我看起来更像是52岁了。我的眼部周围有黑眼圈，看起来十分疲惫，脸上还有许多皱纹和奇怪的红斑。我的皮肤看起来毫无光泽，死气沉沉。

Even my lips look shrivelled. This is all classic evidence of poor hydration, apparently. Every system and function in our body depends on water.

甚至我的嘴唇看起来都很干瘪。很明显，这些都是典型的缺水症状。我们身体中的所有系统和功能都离不开水。

It flushes toxins from the vital organs, carries nutrients to cells, provides a moist environment for ear, nose and throat tissues, and eliminates waste.

水能疏散重要器官中的毒素，将营养运输到细胞里，为耳部、鼻部和咽喉组织提供湿润健康的生态环境，还能排泄废物。

Not drinking enough means all these functions become impaired. So I decided to see how I would look and feel if I drank three litres of water every day for 28 days. The results were astonishing.

如果饮水量不足，则意味着这些功能都将受损。所有我决定考察一下，如果我连续28天每天都喝下3升的水，那么我的皮肤和身体感觉将有些什么变化。结果是惊人的。

tissue ['tiʃju:, -sju:]video

n. 纸巾；薄纱；一套vt. 饰以薄纱；用化妆纸揩去
eliminate [i'limineit]video

vt. 消除；排除
wrinkle ['riŋkl]video

n. 皱纹vi. 起皱vt. 使起皱纹
demonstrate ['demənstreit]video

vt. 证明；展示；论证vi. 示威
flush [flʌʃ]video

n. 激动，洋溢；面红；萌芽；旺盛；奔流vt. 使齐平；发红，使发亮；用水冲洗；使激动vi. 发红，脸红；奔涌；被冲洗adj. 大量的；齐平的；丰足的，洋溢的；挥霍的
digestion [di:dʒestʃən, dai-]video

n. 消化；领悟
reddish ['rediʃ]video

adj. 微红的；略带红色的
exhaust [iɡ'zɔ:st]video

vt. 排出；耗尽；使精疲力尽；彻底探讨vi. 排气n. 排气；废气；排气装置
moist [mɔist]video

adj. 潮湿的；多雨的；含泪的n. 潮湿
apparently [ə'pærəntli]video

adv. 显然地；似乎，表面上

linfeng3 发表于 2013-11-19 08:43:02

我家养了一条鱼，每天不停的喝水，你看他面容多么的年轻、滋润啦，都养几年了，没有一条皱纹，连“鱼尾纹”都没有。哈哈，原来庸医的治病方法来自仿生学。有次我真信了，喝了太多水，搞成胃溃疡。

电能无线传输技术再现曙光

相关文章

网友评论

厂商推荐

相关视频