Researchers create wirelessly-powered robot swarm

Wireless power has come a long way from Nikola Tesla’s early ruminations on the matter, and it looks like some researchers from Duke and Georgia Tech are now taking the idea to its logical, robot-powering conclusion. While their setup (thankfully) isn’t yet able to power robots beyond the confines of the Q L-C resonator-equipped table, it does appear to work remarkably well in that limited proof-of-concept, with five bots each equipped with a non-resonant pickup coil able to follow a path around the table, or simply sit still to recharge their batteries. They were even able to power an LED light with the system for good measure. Natually, they eventually hope to expand the system to power larger swarms of robots and do away with the need for batteries altogether. Yeah, that’s a good idea. Head on past the break for a video.