Georgia Tech Develops “Smart” Charger Harnessing 5G Power

SHARE THIS ARTICLE

VIDEO  | Manos Tentzaris, Professor of Electromagnetics, School of Electrical Sciences at
Georgia Institute of Technology, demonstrates the 5G rechargeable battery

As 5G rolls out across the nation (and the world), powering smart cities and making IoT a reality, how will devices maintain battery life? Think of the times your phone was on its last leg without an outlet or power bank in sight and that panicky feeling that sets in. Now, multiply that by millions of devices.

According to Business Insider, Georgia Tech is attempting to solve the impending power challenge by pioneering a wireless charger using the 5G signal to obtain energy to charge devices. The experimental product converts the 5G signal into a wireless electrical network capable of powering smart devices.  

According to Jimmy Hester, Georgia Tech lab advisor, the tech utilizes a large antenna that operates at higher frequencies and can receive power from any direction. Business Insider reported that the energy collected by the antennas would be combined and fed to a single rectifier. The tech will allow for charging smart and portable devices in-home and potentially at charging points outdoors. 

“I’ve been working on energy harvesting conventionally for at least six years, and for most of that time, there didn’t seem to be a key to making energy harvesting work in the real world, due to FCC limits on power emission and targeting,” said Hester. “With the advent of 5G networks, this could work, and we’ve demonstrated it. That’s very exciting: we could get rid of batteries.”

Click here for a video explaining Georgia Tech’s 5G signal converting device. 

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.