Electronics Weekly
The US start-up Sakti3 develops solid state lithium-ion batteries which UK-based vacuum cleaner firm Dyson plans to use to power its cordless and robotic cleaners.
According to company CEO, Sir James Dyson, the firm’s battery technology has potentially double the energy density of traditional lithium-ion battery cells used in mobiles and electric vehicles.
Michigan-based Sakti3 has developed a battery cell which uses solid lithium rather than the liquid electrolyte of traditional cells.
According to the company, this has the potential for smaller and lower cost li-ion cells.
Dyson believes the technology could produce batteries with power densities which “couldn’t have imagined a year or two ago”.
Dyson is one of the companies planning to use artificial intelligence and robotics to bring a new level of intelligent computing to the home.
“We have the mechanical and software capabilities, but we still lack understanding – machines that see and think in the way that we do. Mastering this will make our lives easier and lead to previously unthinkable technologies,” said Dyson.
Electronics hardware and software design has become an important element in product development at Dyson.
So much so that the company is planning to create a new electronics development centre at its facility in Wiltshire, and the consumer company has a programme to expand its electronics hardware and software development teams significantly this year.
“If we look back at Dyson products over the last 20 years, there was not a lot of electronics in the early vacuum cleaners,” points out Claudio Zizzo global head of electronics at Dyson.
“The company recognised that electronics was becoming a core element of future product development plans,” says Zizzo.
Dyson is making a major investment to expand its electronics development capabilities.
Sakti3’s backers also includes General Motors.
