The Morton Antler lecture: So ... What´s All This Wireless Power Transfer Stuff About Anyway??

The technology of wireless power transfer has been around for over 100 years, and has been applied in various industries. In the automotive industry, wireless charging has been effectively applied to electric and hybrid vehicles. The present reliance on personal mobile devices has opened up a quickly expanding desire for wireless power transfer to eliminate charge cords and the associated charging adaptors necessary to keep our phones charged. Wireless charging of cell phones in the vehicle is not only a safety issue by eliminating the distraction of fumbling for charge cords while driving, but also a customer driven convenience similar to the convenience offered for vehicle charging. This movement of applying wireless power transfer has many additional applications in both the automotive and consumer industries. With technology developments, it is expected that wireless power transfer may effectively be applied in vehicles to power devices, sensors, control modules, and illumination eliminating wiring and connections. Stretching our imaginations, it may eventually lead to non-contact connection systems. As with other industry wide technologies, wireless power transfer will be driven by standards. Multiple standards organizations are presently competing for their positions, and will be a major significance to wide scale implementation.