uBeam Ultrasonic Wireless Charging – A Familiar Fish Smell

[coppice]

Another $10M bucks into the UBeam black hole:
http://fortune.com/2015/09/30/ubeam-wireless-charging-funding/

4 years in. Not even a proof of concept demo (the WiFi charging people at least achieved that, although the demo showed the impractically), let alone a demo of something like a product. Still they can raise $10M. Nice.

To be fair, it sounds like that $10M is not really fresh funding. Its some kind of extension of the funding from the people who already put $13M into this. You never know. A closed group like that might have already seen an amazing near product demo that pumps hundreds of watts of supersonic energy into the air so a watt or two can be pulled out to slowly charge a phone. 

[EEVblog]

To be fair, it sounds like that $10M is not really fresh funding. Its some kind of extension of the funding from the people who already put $13M into this. You never know. A closed group like that might have already seen an amazing near product demo that pumps hundreds of watts of supersonic energy into the air so a watt or two can be pulled out to slowly charge a phone. 

There is a prototype, there has been a photo of it, and it looks to do the business, exactly what you'd expect such a thing to look like.
Few would doubt that they have a working prototype, that's the easy part. The hard part is actually making it
a) Legal
b) Not dangerous
c) Power efficient enough that it's not just a stupid waste of energy.
d) Solving the steering problem
e) Solving any interference problems
f) Making it cheap and simple enough for Joe Average
and maybe more...

[coppice]

To be fair, it sounds like that $10M is not really fresh funding. Its some kind of extension of the funding from the people who already put $13M into this. You never know. A closed group like that might have already seen an amazing near product demo that pumps hundreds of watts of supersonic energy into the air so a watt or two can be pulled out to slowly charge a phone. 

There is a prototype, there has been a photo of it, and it looks to do the business, exactly what you'd expect such a thing to look like.
Few would doubt that they have a working prototype, that's the easy part. The hard part is actually making it
a) Legal
b) Not dangerous
c) Power efficient enough that it's not just a stupid waste of energy.
d) Solving the steering problem
e) Solving any interference problems
f) Making it cheap and simple enough for Joe Average
and maybe more...

I saw something pushing a few microwatts across a room, which is not novel at all. Is there something that pushes enough energy to actually be considered a demonstration of charging a phone?

[Delta]

Is there any way to make money off this ridiculous project when it fails?  ie like short selling shares in a company you know will go down the pan?

[LabSpokane]

That money will help Perry continue to staff up as she attempts to launch a product that she believes will convert uBeam’s many doubters: “There may be people on the Internet who don’t believe it’s true,” Perry told Fortune earlier this summer. But when people see the product with their own eyes, she insists, “they are are converted instantly.”

See what, Meredith?  I've seen a "prototype" made out of eBay ultrasonic transducers that moved a voltmeter needle. Nothing more. To my knowledge, no one has ever seen a demonstration showing your device transmitting a meaningful amount of power over a realistic distance.

[EEVblog]

See what, Meredith?  I've seen a "prototype" made out of eBay ultrasonic transducers that moved a voltmeter needle. Nothing more. To my knowledge, no one has ever seen a demonstration showing your device transmitting a meaningful amount of power over a realistic distance.

Previous page in this thread:

[coppice]

See what, Meredith?  I've seen a "prototype" made out of eBay ultrasonic transducers that moved a voltmeter needle. Nothing more. To my knowledge, no one has ever seen a demonstration showing your device transmitting a meaningful amount of power over a realistic distance.

Previous page in this thread:

As far as I am aware that's just the picture they've been using in their blurb. Has anyone ever seen that hardware being demonstrated? The only reports I remember of demonstrations were at the microwatt level, like remote control devices have been doing since the 1960s.

[vk6zgo]

Of course,if manufacturers made their "devices" with removable battery packs,you could always keep one charged & swap them as required.

No silly remote charging needed!

[EEVblog]

As far as I am aware that's just the picture they've been using in their blurb. Has anyone ever seen that hardware being demonstrated?

No.
But clearly a decent looking prototype of some sort does exist that appears to use beamforming as they have said. I'd be surprised if they can't transfer a few watts in a demo.
Doesn't mean it's in any way commercially viable though. It's as dumb an idea as it ever was.

[EEVblog]

Of course,if manufacturers made their "devices" with removable battery packs,you could always keep one charged & swap them as required.
No silly remote charging needed!

Or simply use one of those Qi charging pads that are super cheap, efficient, have crazy low standby power, and are simple and reliable 

[DanielS]

Or simply use one of those Qi charging pads that are super cheap, efficient, have crazy low standby power, and are simple and reliable 

Qi is still nowhere near as cheap, efficient and low standby power as a decent wired 5V adapter or just plugging into something that already has 5V on a USB port like a PC, hub or monitor with built-in hub.

[Delta]

Given that in some countries (Oz for example) linear power supply plugpack/wallwarts are being banned to save a Watt or two, why on earth are hopelessly inefficient wireless charging systems even being contemplated?

[LabSpokane]

As far as I am aware that's just the picture they've been using in their blurb. Has anyone ever seen that hardware being demonstrated?

No.
But clearly a decent looking prototype of some sort does exist that appears to use beamforming as they have said. I'd be surprised if they can't transfer a few watts in a demo.
Doesn't mean it's in any way commercially viable though. It's as dumb an idea as it ever was.

I honestly would be shocked if they could transfer 5W over 10m with that setup. I realize that is supposed to be some type of representation of a phased array, but if it worked, there would be far more info than an un-captioned photo.

[eneuro]

I realize that is supposed to be some type of representation of a phased array, but if it worked, there would be far more info than an un-captioned photo.

Looking into latest "lab" photo from linked from http://fortune.com/2015/09/30/ubeam-wireless-charging-funding/  there is some progress-they have  a "lab" 
However it looks like u  Beam is still not used even to provide light to "lab" desk, but...  IKEA lamp in the corner does provide enougth light to serious work? 

However, this new "lab" photo was at very low quality, so I had to slightly enhance it to higher resolution 



What the hell, there is no gym or fitness room with swimming pool in this u  Beam "lab" facility or she doesn't care about her image and only wear black suit to look slim? 

Anyway, my guess is this huge funding is only made in virtual cash written only on press webpages, because of I do not believe that rich peaople might be such stupid to invest in something such useless like this else than their time   
There is nothign in the background at the size of 1inch2 (2.5cm x 2.5cm) PCB which could be usable to mount on cell phone back. etc, so still two 1inch2 solar PV panel and 100W light bulb under glass desk could be the winner and no u  Beam needed 

[EEVblog]

Given that in some countries (Oz for example) linear power supply plugpack/wallwarts are being banned to save a Watt or two, why on earth are hopelessly inefficient wireless charging systems even being contemplated?

Bingo, that's why, even if it worked, it's a fundamentally dumb idea. It might ultimately have some niche application, but it will not fly in the consumer world.

[vk6zgo]

See what, Meredith?  I've seen a "prototype" made out of eBay ultrasonic transducers that moved a voltmeter needle. Nothing more. To my knowledge, no one has ever seen a demonstration showing your device transmitting a meaningful amount of power over a realistic distance.

Previous page in this thread:

A K-mart aluminium cosmetic case,sitting on some dog food cans,with a couple of poorly drawn renditions of an ultrasonic beam,one apparently coming out of one end of the handle!

Or are the dog food cans the transducers?
I've seen better fake technology in a 1960s Dr Who episode--& they were terrible!

[zapta]

ubeam related pictures. In the one below, the two breadboards hold the transducer array. May be the demo they show to potential investors.

https://www.google.com/search?q=ubeam+power&es_sm=119&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAkQ_AUoA2oVChMI99fytb2vyAIVhymICh23-wFE&biw=1336&bih=646





Their job postings hints on the technologies they are targeting. 2D piezo electric array with beam formers (not require for the parallel plates in the demo above). This thing is going nowhere commercially.

http://ubeam.com/careers/acoustics-piezoelectric-engineers/

[eneuro]

In the one below, the two breadboards hold the transducer array. May be the demo they show to potential investors.

Yep, with multimeter showing... rectified voltage accross bulky capacitor, while 1M-10M multimeter is the ONLY load in this wireless energy transfer 

A long way to turn on power LEDs this way 

[amyk]

For the record, that's a 240W car audio amp with the branding carefully removed...

Two hundred and forty watts. I don't know how much of those they're using to transmit... less than 1W at the other end?

There appears to be a big linear bench power supply connected to the amp. Unfortunately the most important part, the input voltage/current, is not visible in the images/video I could find (anyone else have better luck?)

[coppice]

For the record, that's a 240W car audio amp with the branding carefully removed...

Two hundred and forty watts. I don't know how much of those they're using to transmit... less than 1W at the other end?

There appears to be a big linear bench power supply connected to the amp. Unfortunately the most important part, the input voltage/current, is not visible in the images/video I could find (anyone else have better luck?)

Whilst they appear to be using a pretty high power amp, that planar array of 10 little piezo devices connected in parallel (not phased for beam forming) don't look like they could cope with a great deal of power.

Its interesting that they use a similar planar array of 10 transducers as the receiver. Wouldn't they need something omni-directional? Its hard to see how they could beam form a passive receiver, and an active one would have a major less than unity power transfer problem.

[vk6zgo]

Remember,the 240watt power output of a car audio amp is pretty much a "pretend rating"!

The "steady state"or "average" power output will be lower,probably considerably so,even at audible frequencies.
It is anyone's guess how well it does at ultrasonic frequencies.

[EEVblog]

Or simply use one of those Qi charging pads that are super cheap, efficient, have crazy low standby power, and are simple and reliable 

Qi is still nowhere near as cheap, efficient and low standby power as a decent wired 5V adapter or just plugging into something that already has 5V on a USB port like a PC, hub or monitor with built-in hub.

Sure, but it's wireless, that's the point.

[EEVblog]

ubeam related pictures. In the one below, the two breadboards hold the transducer array. May be the demo they show to potential investors.
https://www.google.com/search?q=ubeam+power&es_sm=119&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAkQ_AUoA2oVChMI99fytb2vyAIVhymICh23-wFE&biw=1336&bih=646

No, that's the original one she and someone else hacked together right at the start. She didn't even know the difference between voltage and power back then (no joke).
Unfortunately investors were sucked into thinking that demo was legit.
I'm sure they have a thoroughly impressive demo now, as seen in the photo above of the phased array elements.

[coppice]

Remember,the 240watt power output of a car audio amp is pretty much a "pretend rating"!

The "steady state"or "average" power output will be lower,probably considerably so,even at audible frequencies.
It is anyone's guess how well it does at ultrasonic frequencies.

That amp is rated at 2 x 50W RMS stereo, with its 3dB point at 30kHz. Lets assume they use a lowish frequency like 30kHz, to minimise the losses. One channel of this amp should still be able to push out 25W, if the impedance of the load is suitable. This is a not inconsiderable amount of power for something which was shown doing nothing more than reading an output voltage into a high impedance. This is, of course, a crude demo without proper beam forming. Hopefully they can do a little better,

[EEVblog]

They spun a $1M+ ASIC too:
https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=AAIAAABnYf8BaHkGo0eOV-W4XpRb2sS4usSv0v4

uBeam, a revolutionary wireless power company focusing on ultrasound power delivery to mobile devices. Provided critical functions to the company’s success as the visionary Engineer, Systems Architect, and leader of a multi-disciplinary team. Constructing the largest phased array ultrasonic transmitter that can be sold to the general public.
• Thought leader on technology and strategy for system and ultrasonic transducer assembly
• Whilst reporting directly to the CEO, grew the team of engineers and scientists and ran the development of the power delivery and reception system from white board to prototype and EVT.
• Translated business requirements into achievable product visions and timelines that were actionable
• Designed the overall system architecture and responsible for the realization of that vision.
• Managed departmental resources, staffing and mentoring to enhance and maintain a world-class engineering team whilst motivating them to realize the product.
• Negotiated million dollar ASIC mixed signal design contract, separating design from supply – unusual but not unheard of – to give us more control and flexibility to meet demand.
• Negotiating strategic partnerships with silicon packaging houses to keep the costs down
• Key decision maker for hardware, firmware and programmable hardware (FPGAs)
• Authored or was named inventor on numerous patents / disclosures critical to the success of the company