Advances in Wireless Power Transfer

Research and Technology A group of researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have developed a wireless-power transfer (WPT) technology that allows mobile devices to be charged at any location and in any direction, even if the devices are away from the power source. With this technology, so long as mobile users stay in a designated area where the charging is available, the device will pick up power automatically, as needed. KAIST claims that the WPT system is capable of charging multiple mobile devices concurrently and with unprecedented freedom in any direction, even while holding the devices in midair or 0.5 m away from the power source, which is a transmitter. The solution uses highfrequency magnetic materials in a dipole coil structure to build a thin, flat transmitter system shaped into a rectangle with a size of 1 m2. © 2015 IEEE.