Batteryless phone

Most modern gadgets cannot do without a battery. It is not surprising, because in addition to displays that consume about 35% (About 19% goes to the backlight, the remaining 16% goes to the displayed content) of the active power of the device, there is also a processor, memory, sensors, etc. Every year, phones consume more energy, respectively, manufacturers increase battery capacity and as a result we have a fairly large device. Unfortunately, we hit the performance ceiling of lithium-ion batteries, so it remains to be seen when battery manufacturers invent a new type of energy storage. Or they will completely abandon it.

Link to the project washington.edu.

This is exactly what scientists from the University of Washington did. They invented a device that can call a subscriber without using its own battery. As a basis, the researchers took a radio frequency station, which was placed at a distance of about 15 meters, and a device that, when receiving a signal, generated enough energy to send or receive data to the base station. The base station then redirected the call via Skype. The amount of energy that the device received reached several microwatts, which dictated hardware and then computational limitations. Capacitive buttons, a switch (as in radios) to switch between sending and receiving data modes, vacuum headphones (instead of built-in speakers) and much more.

With a battery-free mobile phone, you don’t have to worry about constantly charging your device.

In the end, the experiment was a success. I suggest you take a look at the video:

It would be interesting to have such a device capable of receiving energy from Wi-Fi radio waves. For example, smart home sensors could completely eliminate the need for batteries.