A New Zealand-founded, Australia-based company has powered a moving warehouse robot for 24 hours straight – using only a laser to beam electricity through space via infrared light.
The “world-first” demonstration, announced this week by Aquila Earth, has set two world records: highest total laser power transferred, and longest continuous duration.
In this case, the laser beam was delivering a steady 4 kilowatt hours (kWh) of wireless electricity to a receiver on the robot, says Aquila Earth CEO Ruby Jones.
“[That] is exciting because it’s the most power that has ever been delivered to a dynamic platform. Nobody else has ever done it with that much power in power beaming, ever,” Jones told Renew Economy.
“[The] robot travelled 25 kilometres on light alone, with nominal battery [backup].”
