Powermat Announces New Wireless Charging Platform at Sensors Converge

Powermat Technologies last week announced its PMT350 600W wireless power platform, the next generation in its family of platforms based on the company’s SmartInductive hybrid inductive/resonance technology.

Building on the company’s previous-generation 40W, 200W, and 300W platforms, Powermat’s new 600W platform is optimized for mid-power industrial, micro-mobility (e-bikes, e-scooters, golf carts), robotics, medical and telecom applications. The company demonstrated its new platform at Sensors Converge in Santa Clara, CA, June 20 – 22, 2023.

Removing charging cables and replacing them with Powermat’s wireless power technology creates autonomous, efficient systems. They are free from exact alignment or docking restrictions and reduce the expensive downtime of both maintenance and wired charging.

Powermat goes for affordability

Powermat said it created its 600W wireless power platform to make it more affordable for OEMs to develop these cable-free, wirelessly-powered systems for industrial and other mid-power applications.

Two things lower the OEM’s system cost: Powermat’s unique licensing model and an optimized reference design that’s ready for production. The sub $100 reference design provided with the PMT350 license can reduce OEM capital expenditures by 10x, and includes full production files such as eBOM, schematics, integration support and system pre-certifications.

“Delivering the first affordable wireless power system designed for Industry 4.0 is a game changer for powerful systems that are notoriously expensive to implement,” said Powermat’s CEO Kfir Abuhatzira. “Industrial equipment often vibrates or moves, so replacing charging cables which can break or dislodge with wireless power technology eliminates the expensive downtime of both maintenance and wired charging to lower total cost of ownership.”

The new high-performance PMT350 platform delivers total power of 600W with up to 58V input and output and up to 12.5A current. It works with lower-power applications as well, and can also be configured in multi-module mode for applications requiring more than 600W.

Powermat details technology

Powermat’s SmartInductive wireless power technology features embeddable software implemented on COTS hardware for maximum affordability. A transmitter (Tx) sends energy wirelessly to a receiver (Rx) that converts it to power to directly power a device or recharge its batteries.

SmartInductive combines the best of short-range inductive and resonance wireless charging to eliminate exact placement restrictions and provide freedom of alignment between the Tx and Rx charging coils up to eight inches. SmartInductive can penetrate eight inches of wall and windows, and beyond power transmission, can also transmit data between the coils to control edge devices.

Notable success stories for Powermat’s previous generation 40W, 200W, and 300W platforms include:

• Wireless smartphone charging installed in 28 car models.
• Through-wall-and-window wireless charging to facilitate deployment of 5G repeaters, such as the Echo 5G developed with Pivotal Commware, where a wireless charger attaches inside the home or building while the 5G system attaches outside, creating a simple, consumer-installed system that eliminates expensive through-wall cabling and technician visits.
• Autonomous home robots such as vacuum cleaners and pool cleaners that cut the cords and precise docking requirements. Powermat’s technology enables underwater charging in a soon-to-be-announced new pool cleaning robot.

Petah Tiqva, Israel-based Powermat said it will support any customers wanting help productizing their mid-power wireless power systems using Powermat’s new PMT350 600 platform, under the companies’ recently announced partnership.