Intel and METU Advance Auto-Charging Battery Research

Middle East Technical University (METU) and Intel announced the advances in their research for auto-charging battery design. “We applied the coil springs of watchmaking to laptop technology,” said Intel Turkey Country Manager Burak Aydın, and thanked the global office for their support.

Titled “Energy Efficiency Project,” the research aims to extend battery life and use energy more effectively. The research partnership is in its second year and is expected to be completed in 2013. This is the last phase in a 3-year research partnership between METU and Intel to alleviate one of the biggest problems in mobile computing by harnessing the kinetic energy released when the device is in motion to charge the device.

“We do not yet have a research center in Turkey, but we are working very closely working with universities,” said Burak Aydın, “and one of the most important among these is our research with METU on charging laptops when they are in motion.” Aydın added that Intel’s global office lent its support to the partnership that will enable laptops to be charged when the users walk from place to place with the laptop on them. “In fact, we are developing a system similar to the coil springs in watches. The main goal is to create know-how in Turkey and spread it to the world.”

According to Intel’s site on academic collaborations^TR, METU’s larger “Energy Efficiency Project” aims to convert the vibrational energy and frequency on microchips to electrical energy by raising solar or thermal energy. Another Intel sponsored technology, the Polar Codes Project by Bilkent University, which aims for high performance and low complexity in next generation wireless communication systems. The .gov website Invest in Turkey provides further info on all Intel’s METU and Bilkent investments.

On the other hand, Apple, whose patent cases still don the headlines, recently applied to get the patent for a technology that would enable the users to charge their devices by shaking them, which might be implemented as soon as the next generation of mobile devices. It will be curious to watch and see if there are any similarities between Apple and Intel’s variations on the concept.

This article by Gülen Demirok, originally published in sosyalmedya.co in Turkish, is adapted into English by Süleyman Okan.