Witricity Corporation

Arunanshu Mohan Roy

Morris P Kesler

Andre B Kurs

Noam Katz

Katherine L Hall

Simon Verghese

Alexander Patrick McCauley

Herbert Toby Lou

Christopher Buenrostro

Michael Sasha John

Konrad J Kulikowski

Gozde Guckaya

Nathaniel Endale Atnafu

Marin Soljacic

Jude R Jonas

Erika Ye

Damiano Patron

Abdel Sam Rhoufiry

Simone Agha

The disclosure features wireless energy transfer sources that include at least two source resonators and a power source, where: each of the at least two source resonators has a nominal impedance when a device resonator is not positioned on or near any of the at least two source resonators, the nominal impedances of each of the at least two source resonators varying by 10% or less from one another; and the at least two source resonators are configured so that during operation of the wireless energy transfer source, when a device resonator is positioned on or near a first one of the at least two source resonators: (a) the impedance of the first source resonator is reduced to a value smaller than the nominal impedances of each of the other resonators by a factor of 2 or more.

Wireless power transfer systems for surfaces

The disclosure features apparatus, methods, and systems for wireless power transfer that include a power source featuring at least one resonator, a power receiver featuring at least one resonator, a first detector featuring one or more loops of conductive material and configured to generate an electrical signal based on a magnetic field between the power source and the power receiver, a second detector featuring conductive material, and control electronics coupled to the first and second detectors, where during operation, the control electronics are configured to measure the electrical signal of the first detector and compare the measured electrical signal of the first detector to baseline electrical information for the first detector to determine information about whether debris is positioned between the power source and the power receiver.

Foreign object detection in wireless energy transfer systems

Systems and methods for detecting foreign object debris around a wireless power transfer system include a plurality of detectors, each detector featuring one or more loops of conducting material, and a controller configured to measure at least one of a voltage and a current in each detector and to determine, based on the measurements, whether foreign object debris is present around the wireless power transfer system, where at least some of the plurality of detectors include a first number of loops of the conducting material, and at least some of the plurality of detectors include a second number of loops of the conducting material larger than the first number.

A wireless power transmission system () includes a conductive waveguide () at least partially filled with a dielectric material (), the waveguide extending along a first direction (e.g., z-axis) from a first end () to an opposing end () thereof, the waveguide having a bottom face (), a top face () and a pair of side faces () that together form a substantially rectangular cross-section of the waveguide, the top face having a plurality of slots () oriented substantially orthogonal to the first direction and distributed between the first end and the opposing end, the slots separated from each other by a first distance (l) measured along the first direction. In one illustrative embodiment, the waveguide includes a plurality of barriers () interleaved with the plurality of slots, the barriers separated from each other by the first distance, each of the barriers extending between the top and bottom faces and having a barrier cross-section with an area smaller than an area of the waveguide cross-section and an input port () coupled with the first end of the waveguide, the input port configured to receive an input waveform () to be guided by the waveguide.

Radiative wireless power transmission

A resonator connector for a wireless power transfer system includes: one or more conducting materials to carry electricity between two or more electromagnetic resonators; a first plug coupled with the one or more conducting materials; a second plug coupled with the one or more conducting materials; and an impedance module coupled with the one or more conducting materials, the impedance module including an impedance matching network; wherein the impedance module is configurable to adjust electrical properties of the one or more conducting materials, using the impedance matching network, when the resonator connector electrically couples together the two or more electromagnetic resonators of the wireless power transfer system including at least three electromagnetic resonators, so as to improve power transfer efficiency among the at least three electromagnetic resonators of the wireless power transfer system, the at least three electromagnetic resonators including the two or more electromagnetic resonators.

Systems and methods for wireless power system with improved performance and/or ease of use

The disclosure features living object detectors for a wireless energy transfer systems that include a sensor featuring a first conductor positioned adjacent to a first surface of a substrate, a shield featuring a second conductor different from the first conductor, where at least a portion of the second conductor is positioned proximal to the first conductor and adjacent to the first surface of the substrate, a ground reference featuring a third conductor spaced from the substrate and positioned on a side of the substrate opposite to the first surface, and an electrical circuit coupled to the first, second and third conductors and configured so that during operation of the living object detector, the electrical circuit applies a first electrical potential to the first conductor and a second electrical potential to the second conductor, the first and second electrical potentials being approximately similar.

Object detection for wireless energy transfer systems

A device for testing a wireless power network is disclosed. The network includes at least one power source, at least one load, and multiple resonators configured to couple wireless power from the at least one power source to the at least one load. The device includes: a user interface for receiving input from a user and providing information to the user; a measurement module for measuring, whether directly or indirectly, at least one operational characteristic of the wireless power network and information about the geometric arrangement of the multiple resonators in the wireless power network; a memory for storing design specifications about the wireless power network; and an electronic processor configured to calculate information about a performance of the wireless power network based on the measured operational characteristic, the information about the geometric arrangement of the multiple resonators, and the stored design specifications, and further configured to provide the performance information to the user through the user interface.

The disclosure features power transmitting apparatus for wireless power transfer to a receiver that includes a housing having a form factor that corresponds to a container featuring lateral surfaces, a bottom surface, and an opening opposite the bottom surface, a first coil formed by a continuous path of electrically conductive material and featuring a plurality of non-planar loops that conform to a first pair of opposite lateral surfaces and to the bottom surface, and a second coil formed by a continuous path of electrically conductive material and featuring a plurality of non-planar loops that conform to a second pair of opposite lateral surfaces and to the bottom surface.

Wirelessly charged battery system

A wireless power network including multiple electromagnetic resonators each capable of storing electromagnetic energy at a resonant frequency is disclosed. The multiple resonators include: a first resonator configured to be coupled to a power source to receive power from the power source; a second resonator configured to be coupled to a load to provide power to the load, and one or more intermediate resonators. The first resonator is configured to provide power from the power source to the second resonator through the one or more intermediate resonators. At least a first pair of resonators among the multiple resonators is configured to exchange power wirelessly, and at least a second pair of the resonators among the multiple resonators is configured to exchange power through a wired electrically conductive connection.

Growing community of inventors

Cambridge, MA, United States of America

Arunanshu Mohan Roy