Soljacic isn’t the first man to try to power dis-
tant electronic devices by sending electrons through the air. He
isn’t even the first man from the Balkans to try. Most agree that
Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla, who went on to father many of
the inventions that define the modern electronic era, was the
first to let electrons off their leash, in 1890.
Tesla based his wireless electricity idea on a concept known
as electromagnetic induction, which was discovered by Michael
Faraday in 1831 and holds that electric current flowing through
one wire can induce current to flow in another wire, nearby. To
illustrate that principle, Tesla built two huge “World Power”
towers that would broadcast current into the American air, to be
received remotely by electrical devices around the globe.
Few believed it could work. And to be fair to the doubters, it
didn’t, exactly. When Tesla first switched on his 200-foot-tall,
1,000,000-volt Colorado Springs tower, 130-foot-long bolts of elec-
tricity shot out of it, sparks leaped up at the toes of passersby, and
the grass around the lab glowed blue. It was too much, too soon.
But strap on your rubber boots; Tesla’s dream has come true.
After more than 100 years of dashed hopes, several companies
are coming to market with technologies that can safely transmit
power through the air—a breakthrough that portends the literal
and figurative untethering of our electronic age. Until this
development, after all, the phrase “mobile electronics” has been
Fulton Innovation
partnered with high-end
toolmaker Bosch to
create the world’s first
line of wirelessly
rechargeable tools. Lay
the ecoupled carrying
case (or a single tool)
on the charging
platform and batteries
recharge, with about
90% efficiency.
