Miniature motors

Miniature Motor

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if your mobile or laptop lasted for months without having to be recharged? That idea has come a step closer, thanks to engineers at the University of Birmingham, who have made a tiny engine that runs on lighter fuel. Crucially, the team are the first to manufacture tiny engines using a durable, heat-resistant material like ceramic.

Measuring just a few millimeters across, the engine is not only smaller and lighter than a conventional battery, but far more energy efficient, says project leader Dr Kyle Jiang.

“It takes 2000 times more energy to manufacture a battery than the battery dispenses while it is being used. Soon everyone will be able to charge their mobile phones instantly using a shot of cigarette lighter fuel instead of having to find a socket for a charger and wait while the phone charges up,” Jiang claims.
The minute micro-engines developed by a team from the University of Birmingham need just a squirt of lighter fluid to get them running, but have 300 times more energy than standard batteries and will be able to charge up mobile phones and lap-top computers in a matter of seconds.

It’s believed the motor could be on the market within six years. Looking further ahead, similar devices could also be used by the military for driving tiny spy cameras, miniature helicopters, or robots. They could also be used in industry as “micro factories” capable of producing drugs, chemicals or small mechanical components.