Things that levitate are just cool. MagLev trains that can hit 581kmph? Cool. Marty McFly’s floating skateboard in Back to the Future? Cool. And now joining the exclusive list is a hovering lightbulb.
To hover in mid-air, the LED light combines ordinary magnets with electromagnets and then delivers power wirelessly through a pair of resonating coils. According to Dvice.com, the resonating coils run separately to the magnets which helpfully keeps the light afloat when turned off. In the event there’s a power shortage, the LED light won’t fall towards the floor. Between a magnet planted in the ceiling and another within the LED bulb, the light naturally wants to stick against the ceiling. In order to generate a hovering effect, the electromagnetic field omits a controlled force that repels the two magnets from one another. This clever trick ensures the light sticks to the ceiling in the case of a blackout. The entire setup consumes around 9 watts of power, of which just 3 power the LED itself. Admittedly it’s not as energy efficient as an ordinary LED, but a hovering light is down-right extraordinary. University of Queensland student Chris Rieger spent six months building the levitating light. Provided there’s enough interest (and based on the 84,000 hits his 4 day old YouTube video has, there very well could be) the electrical engineering student plans on making do-it-yourself kits, but how popular these kits will depend on the yet-to-be-set priced. |
