NEW BATTERY CHARGING TECHNOLOGY

I've been putting my phone on such a device for years.

Same system used on Electric Tooth Brushes for ages!

This may be a new approach. It uses a flat plate underneath the vehicle and can transfer large amounts of power. A scaled down version could be a small plate on a siding where a battery powered loco is parked.

Yeah, nothing new. My first smart phone from 2010 (Palm Pre) had a nice magnetic wireless charging station.

Better make sure there isn't much metal under that engine or near the charging plate. Inductive current from the charger will get them hot. Also that plate will have to be pretty close, my current phone won't charge until it's less than a quarter inch from the charging plate.

It's hard to imagine a company like Qualcom investing heavily in an old technology, but who knows?

Old technology sometimes works Bob.

Interesting, but I think its "new" from the perspective of solving the difficult task of applying wireless charging to such huge batteries that are found in electric automobiles, and the associated safety issues and view toward regulation, etc.  So I'd say the elsewhere existing wireless tech mentioned above is probably more commensurate with any needs in our hobby.  

Bob seems to be talking about the Qualcomm Halo™ Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging that they're talking about.  Very difficult to imagine this will be cheap enough and scaled to model trains anytime soon.

I suspect some will squawk about the 90% efficiency, that's a pretty big hit to avoid plugging in.

Lets keep the discussion as to how this technology applies to charging batteries in our trains...

Alan, I was pointing out that this is large scale charging, and it's really not that applicable to our situation.  I think the technology used for cellphone charging is probably closer to what we might be able to use.

I dock "myself" every evening to charge a battery in my lower back for a spinal stim implant.  Now if I held an engine in my arms at the same time do you think I could kill two birds with one stone ?  Lol

I made it train related - just showing the technology is here!  And the distance is probably  1/4 to 1/2 inch so there could be a " park the engine in the new charging facility" on the layout.  Time for a new accessory !!   JP

My iPhone has a glass back to facilitate wireless charging. Got any engines with a glass bottom?

I spent 45 years in high tech trying to come up with neat ways to solve ongoing problems. When I spot something new, I start thinking how it could be adapted to my current interests and keep the negative aspects to a minimum. For example, when first presented with the idea of a cellphone, the Bell System (now AT&T) said: no way!

"TDK's solid-state battery is only a few millimeters long and can be recharged 1,000 times. The company has already begun shipping samples and is setting up operations for mass production."

https://asia.nikkei.com/Busine...t-in-home-appliances

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Bob seems to be talking about the Qualcomm Halo™ Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging that they're talking about.  Very difficult to imagine this will be cheap enough and scaled to model trains anytime soon.

I suspect some will squawk about the 90% efficiency, that's a pretty big hit to avoid plugging in.

Quick and efficient wireless charging technology

Quick charging with high power WEVC, supporting wireless power transfers at 3.7 kW, 7.4 kW, 11 kW and 22 kW with a single primary base pad and wireless power transfer efficiency of 90%+.

According to the link John provided, Qualcomm is using is “resonant magnetic induction“ which is quite a bit different than inductive charging.

it’s just a matter of time before someone miniaturizes the technology so it can be used in things like our trains.

That new TDK miniature battery might just be a great fit for battery powered locos. Time will tell.