Posted on 12/25/2013 4:39:05 PM PST by bkopto
Power electronics maker FINsix Corporation has announced the development of what is being called the world's smallest laptop adaptor—one that is just a quarter the size of traditional models and just a sixth the weight—it comes as a standard wall plug, eliminating the "box on the ground" format so familiar to laptop users.
The new adaptor has come about due to the development of a new circuit design by MIT professor David Perreault—it's able to run at higher frequencies (between 30MHz and 300MHz-a thousand times faster than conventional adapters) due to a power reclaiming scheme he developed.
The result is a 65 watt power adapter that can be used to charge a variety of laptops or other devices such as smartphone or tablets (because it comes with a 2.1A USB connector)—it can even charge more than one device at a time.
FINSix says the tiny adapter is just the first of what will be a whole new line of power electronics devices based on the new circuit design—from AC/DC converters to power controllers in devices ranging from air conditioners to more efficient electric motors—all courtesy of the increased frequency range.
The new design allows for recycling power that in traditional designs is lost, preventing the loss of efficiency that typically occurs with other circuits when upping the frequency range.
Representatives for FINSix say the new design (which uses what they call Very High Frequency power conversion technology) leaps over conventional barriers and will pave the way for more efficient electronic devices that are also smaller and lighter.
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
2.1 Amps in a USB cable is only 10.2 Watts. That is less than 65 Watts. There aren’t many laptops that can run a screen and a disk drive for less than 20 Watts.
Hint: When buying a computer monitor, for example, buy one with the “brick” type of cord.
It’s less expensive and problematic to replace than the internal power supply should it fail.
“IF: it runs twice as hot, and only has 1/3 the life expectancy of the older brick types.
THEN: smaller is not so good.
FYI: issues the article does not address”
And it they choose to sell it wholesale at $99.00 each, we’ll never see it either. Actually, I predict we’ll never see it anyway. Like clockwork, every two years the MSM reports: sun spots will stop civilization, the coffee crop will fail, the cocoa crop will fail, there’s a new miracle battery charger.
/johnny
How will this work with a “Graphene Ultra-Capacitor”?
CL, you and I need to go out for a beer and discuss that one. Between my auto-gnome not seeing it and the E-plane guys who are gun-ho, I am not sure what to believe. Firewall forward it is easy. Sonex has essentially done it. The GUC and rapid storage of it is everything. IMHO CNG powered aircraft have a decent shot at being a paradigm changer as well...
Very high frequency hmmm. VHF
Let me know when they use DHF
Good point. I should have done the math before posting.
I can design and build equipment that works with quite standard components to about 987MHz rather non-expensively, but what else does it require? Inductance and capacitance at those frequencies AND above tend to be affected not only by the components themselves but also by the properties of the circuit boards they are manufactured on including the length and layout of the traces themselves.
Then, there is the matter of common-access materials. As an example, one of the components I used for a particular company some time back was a custom chip that had to be constructed in a particular way -and there was only one company that had access to the licensed technology to produce it.
Or, if it was a programmed chip, such as a one-of-eight-selected frequency divider (out of a possible 4096 combiniations) that had to be set at the factory (much like an FPGA), not everyone is going to be able to reproduce the circuit at home with even a simple EEPROM programmer and a soldering iron.
If that is the case, just how "reproducible" or "cost-effective" are we talking about here? Especially since you are at the mercy of one particular OEM if that is the case and who can tell when or what the pricing will change to in the future?
I am reminded of needing to obtain the proprietary Intersil chips some years ago if you wished to make a "cheap" Frequency Counter. Who was the only IC OEM licensed to manufacture them, so if you could not locate a source for their specific chips, you were not going to be building the design at all.
And I have a feeling you don't mean "frequency modulation". Heh, heh.
/johnny
I just bought a Crown 575 watt per channel professional amp for my PA. Class D. Takes up two rack spaces. Weigh’s 7 lbs.
The whole digital switching amp and power supply thing is really changing the whole electronics and sound reproduction business. I’ve been waiting for this sort of thing for laptops for a few years. It’s about time.
Actually, heat is wasted energy. If this thing can capture that energy and use it, there will be less heat.
Sounds like he could make a mint on these things
Will it power a fully loaded 6500 router?
LOL, yes
I finally got around to contacting the professor mentioned in the article, and he did send me a reply. If you’re interested in the articles he sent me, send me a PM.
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