The market is exploding with new potential wireless power solutions, each of them featuring different technologies, features, and applications. Some wireless power systems will work well together, but needing more and more solutions simply means more and more infrastructure and cost.
Your Wireless Power Review Checklist
Here’s a handy checklist of wireless power features to look for while you’re analyzing your options and planning for the future.
- SAFETY: Is it inherently safe? Without safety, for your team and your consumers, you have hit a dead end. If the wireless power touts safety, learn how it delivers energy while avoiding an impact with people (and pets) health. Find a solution that’s based on a technology solution that is safe without the need for complex safety protocols or algorithms to avoid contact with humans.
- DISTANCE: Does it provide power at a significant distance that is meaningful to your needs? Can you expand on this distance as needed? Power that requires touch or near-touch with a pad, mat, or charger to receive power is not Real Wireless Power. Transmitters that can be linked to expand distance ensure growth.
- NON-LINE-OF SIGHT: Does it provide power without interruption, even if the receiver and transmitter are not in sight of one another? In the real world, wireless power will be required even if the device is behind an object, inaccessibly located within an IoT, or in a pocket.
- IN MOTION: Does it provide power efficiently and instantly, even if the receiving device is in motion? A transmitter that requires an algorithm it constantly seek out and discover a receiver is using up time and energy searching, rather than delivering power. Choose a wireless power solution that delivers power automatically and instantly, without complex searching algorithms.
- MULTIPLE DEVICES: Does the wireless power transmitter deliver power to multiple devices? A one-to-one scenario is expensive for consumers and limiting for commercial applications.
- SCALABLE: Is the technology flexible as new devices hit the market? Or do you need to be constantly upgrading your hardware?
- APPLICATION FLEXIBLE: Is the wireless power technology flexible for all you want it to do today, tomorrow, and for the unknown future? The technology should suit your needs, and not just for smartphones and wearables. Consider IoT and environmental sensors (home, office, auto, and industrial), scanners, retail signage, security, emergency lighting, sound systems, portable tools and pumps, remote controls, electronic price tags, and other small devices. It should also work with your current devices, for immediate benefits, as well as future build-outs. Look for a tiny receiver size, a retrofit option for current devices, and licensable technology for the most flexibility.
These are the top seven features to consider when evaluating wireless power for your organization, and as you might suspect, they all apply to the CotaⓇ Real Wireless Power solution, but you may have other needs.
Contact Ossia to discuss your specific wireless power objectives to see if Cota is the right fit for your current and future devices and applications.
