One of the holy grails of mobile-device technology has been the search for longer-lasting batteries, with each breakthrough tantalizing us with the promise of phones that don’t die out just when we most need them. So how about a phone that requires no battery at all, but just works?
This is exactly the invention researchers at the University of Washington have just announced. This little wonder runs on a teensy 2-3 microwatts of power it pulls from ambient RF (radio-frequency) waves. It also derives power from ambient light, thanks to its tiny photodiodes.UW Faculty lead Joshua Smith tells UW Today that, “The cellphone is the device we depend on most today. So if there were one device you’d want to be able to use without batteries, it is the cellphone. The proof of concept we’ve developed is exciting today, and we think it could impact everyday devices in the future.” The uwPhone (our name, not theirs) is currently a circuit board tricked out with off-the-shelf components.
The “uwPhone” front and back (UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON)
Reducing the power needs of the UW device is the thing that makes the phone possible. Co-author of the paper Shayam Gollakota tells UW…
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