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Comment on Researcher has developed, at a cost of less than one dollar, a wireless light switch that runs without batteries, can be installed anywhere on a wall and could reduce the cost of wiring a house by ...

surfrock66@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

This article is scant on details. It harvests RF to power/charge low energy devices. What RF bands? Is putting these through a house knocking out bluetooth around it, or existing RF remotes for devices? Or is this some background RF that won’t penetrate deep into a house to begin with?

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kae@lemmy.ca ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I’d imagine it’s scant on details because it’s still a theory. The next phase of the competition is funds to build a proof of concept.

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- surfrock66@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  For sure, though I question the theory. Directional wireless power I think is feasible, but this sounds like blanketing (1-2 transmitters in a house with no regard for obstacles/direction, per the article). That sounds hugely wasteful, especially given how much more energy power takes vs. signal. I do think a zigbee type solution is the ultimate answer, because even if it goes back to batteries for wall stations, data transmission like that is so much less energy than power that the battery problem becomes null-ish.
  
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