and jordin kare headquarters kent washington website lasermotive.com lasermotive is a u.s. engineering firm developing technologies for efficiently transmitting power via lasers a form of wireless energy transfer commonly called laser power beaming . contents 1 history 2 technology 3 applications 3.1 tether propulsion 3.2 aircraft propulsion 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit lasermotive was founded in 2006 by physicists tom nugent 1 and jordin kare . 2 the company s initial goal was to win the nasa centennial challenges power beam challenge . after winning the challenge lasermotive focused on developing the power beaming technology for commercial application on uavs . 3 technology edit the power beaming system uses a laser running from a power supply . to define the beam size at its destination the laser s light can be shaped by a set of optics . this light energy can be sent through air or the vacuum of space onto a photovoltaic pv receiver where it is converted back into electricity . 4 in addition to delivering energy through air or space lasermotive has adapted the technology to deliver over 10 watts of electricity through an optical fiber . 5 the electrical to optical conversion efficiency of modern laser technology can be over 85 % 6 and off the shelf lasers can have an output efficiency of around 50 % . 7 the optical to electrical conversion efficiency of a photovoltaic receiver can be over 50 % for monochromatic or laser light . 8 applications edit lasermotive has investigated numerous applications for its laser power beaming technology including transmission of power both to and from the ground spacecraft aerial vehicles satellites and a lunar rover . 9 tether propulsion edit the company s stated first goal was to win the beam power challenge part of the space elevator games to power a small climber up a vertical tether . they partnered with boeing which provided them with test facilities as well as specialized solar cells . 10 in 2007 they failed to qualify for the challenge due to difficulties meeting nasa s specifications . 11 12 at the 2009 challenge on november 6 2009 lasermotive successfully used lasers to drive a 4.8 kg 11 lb device up a 900 m 2 950 ft cable suspended from a helicopter . 13 14 energy is transmitted to the climber using a high power infrared beam . 15 lasermotive s entry which was the only to top the cable reached an average speed of 13 km h 8.1 mph and earned a 900 000 prize . this marked both a performance record and the first award of a cash prize at the challenge . 14 aircraft propulsion edit on october 28 2010 lasermotive set a flight endurance record at the future of flight center by powering a quadcopter uav for more than 12 hours using laser propulsion . 16 the vehicle was equipped with a small on board battery capable of only a few minutes of flight . on august 7 2012 lasermotive equipped a lockheed martin stalker uas with a laser receiver and the system was successfully demonstrated during day and night operations in the desert . this series of demonstration flights is described as the first ever outdoor flight of a uas powered by laser . 17 in a future test the two companies plan to demonstrate a flight lasting two to three days . 18 see also edit beam powered propulsion elevator 2010 wireless power references edit executive staff tom nugent lasermotive . retrieved july 9 2012 executive staff jordin kare lasermotive . retrieved july 9 2012 http www.nasa.gov offices oct stp centennial challenges after challenge lasermotive.html suriyanarayanan balachander 2011 03 13 . lasermotive s power beaming system prepares ground for space elevator s lift off . international business times . retrieved 2011 03 14 . the system starts with a laser running from a power supply with the laser light shaped by a set of optics to define the beam size at its destination . this light then propagates through air or the vacuum of space until it reaches the photovoltaic pv receiver . this array of pv cells then converts the light back into electricity . laser power beaming only requires physical installations at the transmitting and receiving points and nothing in between . the receiver can be moved to a different location closer or further away without changing the cost of the system . and power can be available as soon as the elements are placed and turned on instead of having to wait for wires to be buried or hung from poles . http www.youtube.com watch v wq3zh85ki c http www.nlight.net nlight files file technical papers sprcs05 stanford.pdf http www.dilas.com gdresources downloads whitepapers dilas ssdltr 08 power beaming with diode lasers.pdf http ieeexplore.ieee.org xpl articledetails.jsp arnumber 4922910 http www.msnbc.msn.com id 44107391 ns technology and science innovation t forget fuel lasers could beam power drones lasermotive at space access 08 . space prizes . 2008 04 01 . retrieved 2009 11 07 . lasermotive corporate background pdf . lasermotive . 2008 07 30 . retrieved 2009 11 07 . jordin t. kare ; nugent jr. thomas j. ; pakhomov andrew v. 2007 . laser power beaming on a shoestring . fifth international symposium on beamed energy propulsion . 997 . outrigger keauhou beach resort hawaii american institute of physics 97 108 . doi 10.1063 1.2931935 . retrieved 14 january 2010 contribution ignored help second day results . space elevator games . the spaceward foundation . 2009 11 05 . retrieved 2009 11 07 . a b moskowitz clara 2009 11 06 . seattle team wins 900 000 in space elevator contest . space.com . retrieved 2009 11 07 . main . blog . lasermotive . retrieved 2009 11 07 . http cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com news 2010 10 28 5368938 copter sets a laser powered record http www.lockheedmartin.com us news press releases 2012 august 120807ae uas laser powered.html https www.youtube.com watch v tqwqnj ogyo external links edit official website v t e space elevator main articles history structure construction economics safety in fiction technologies electromagnetic propulsion counterweight carbon nanotube nanotechnology space tether momentum exchange tether related concepts launch loop lunar space elevator orbital ring skyhook space fountain competitions list of competitions elevator 2010 people yuri artsutanov bradley c. edwards jerome pearson konstantin tsiolkovsky organizations kc space pirates lasermotive liftport group non rocket spacelaunch spaceflight megascale engineering retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title lasermotive & oldid 678256777 categories engineering companies of the united stateslaser companiesspace elevatorcompanies based in kent washingtonwireless energy transferhidden categories articles with inconsistent citation formatscs1 errors chapter ignored navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to 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