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  • Author Author: waelect
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Wireless Power - Beyond the phone - General Purpose power connection (Updated 17-04-2014)

waelect

Greeting to the Element14 community.

 

I am grateful to Element14, Wurth Electronics and Texas Instruments for an opportunity to evaluate, test and create a solution with the "Wireless Power Transfer Solution to go"

 

With this Challenge I have a situation that I have been considering for a while but never had the opportunity to implement. With the Wireless Power Transfer Solution I can now start the project.

 

My wife and her friends have a significant disability, their profound hearing loss bring a number of challenges that always need technology to help. My wife has received an alerting device from Bellman and Symphon and has very good features and applications for more than just hearing loss.

One of the problems associated is the pager receiver requires to be worn continually around the house except one room. In some cases the pager can be a bit uncomfortable to wear especially while sitting. The cost of the solution is fairly high, a simple minimal smoke alarm product cost at least AU$400.00 and to add anything to the solution cost a great deal more.

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My project is to apply the Wireless power solution to one product specifically. The Bellman and Symphon Flashing light alert. This device provides a flashing light when activated by any number of transmitters located around the home - "Smoke Alarm, Doorbell, Telephone Ringer and more. The flashing light is not strictly portable and can only be placed in one location, although containing a rechargeable battery long term experience has shown this method does not allow the power to be remove effectively and after a period of time the power socket needs replacing as the constant plugging in a removing wears out the connector.

I intend to use the Wireless Power Transfer solution to develop a charging platform so that Flashing Light Receiver can be removed and relocated to any location in the house then return at the end of the day to recharge the battery. Instead of removing the power connector the unit is simply removed from the charging base relocated to a temporary location, then return to charge the battery when finished.

 

This is a unique opportunity, after 6 years using the solution my wife has almost given up wearing the pager and now starts missing doorbells and more concerning if she might miss the smoke alarm going off while carrying out her hobby in another room. Our children are growing up and I am out more often so the real chance of her missing a smoke alarm is a real concern.

 

After completing this project I would like to consider other solutions and experiments for wireless power transfer, one other consideration is from the same manufacturer the audible alerting receiver that has a similar circumstance to the flashing light. Even so while writing this another application has come to mind that could well be useful.

I will continue to write and create videos were possible to supplement this blog and hopefully inspire other ideas for the future.

 

The next item to write or video is the arrival and review of the Wireless Power Transfer Solution to go kit.

 

Update: Next Blog entry General Power Source Project Description Update - Wireless Power beyond the phone

Parents

  • Cheers Mark,

     

    I still have a lot to overcome in this application in that the battery inside the flashing light is also used as a back up in case power fails, to allow the system works. I hope initially to at least cover the charging method then look at any possible additions that could favour.

     

    These system currently are FESA (Fire and Emergency Approved) but must be supported with a wired powered system to maintain current Australian regulations. This is one of the most difficult challenges to overcome as the regulations here are extremely tight. Insurance companies will not cover fire damages if anything is not approved.

     

    I may continue development for the future on various areas of this type of system in the hope to reduce cost but there are a lot of barriers to overcome.

     

    It is a nice challenge and one that i have been looking for ages to carry out. I am going to miss out on the Waveform generator as I have too much other stuff to cover and don't want to overload myself.

  • in reply to waelect

    Malcolm

    In that case I'm thinking a separate system for warning the occupants that doesn't require to meet the regulations.

    This may allow you to develop a system that works in conjunction with the other one.

     

    We are lucky here in NZ that the council requires new builds to have smoke alarms and as long as they meet the AS/NZ standard (can't be sold without meeting it), it fine.

    Your FESA regulation/standard should be published and the testing method to comply, which may not be so bad.

    Hopefully they include a separate battery as well, since we all know the power does go out.

     

    Mark

  • in reply to mcb1

    Yes you are right, although I met this when the legislation was put through. May work in a hobby environment but not in a commercial environment. Australia does have extremely strict laws when it come to fire safety and notifications. I hope to work on another option before considering it as the lower cost road. For the moment now there is some funding available in some states and that will do for the moment until I come up with alternate solutions. The cost of testing here is one of the biggest hurdle. It takes 1 to 2 years to get testing done and costs the earth. For the smoke alarm on it own the compliance cost is around AU$10 - 20,000. Fortunately I didn't bear this cost.

     

    The testing methods are similar all round but there are some slight differences. It is only the requirement for Main powered with battery backup that is a separate requirement for new buildings and rentals.

  • in reply to waelect

    May work in a hobby environment but not in a commercial environment

    Does that mean it is allowed in domestic?

     

    I can see 10-20k reasons to avoid the compliance costs, but was this for a new design or using one that meets the appropriate AS/NZ standard.?

     

     

    Mark

Comment Children
  • in reply to mcb1

    Does that mean it is allowed in domestic?

    No, just means that you can potentially get away with doing something for yourself but "at your own risk" I am looking further into the options but for this challenge I will make the device then consider the costs at a later date. The challenge would be considered a new device, not an addition to an existing device.

     

    On the last webinar I asked about compliance and it seems that one of the developing team is Australian, so this might be good news relating to compliance.