LaserMotive is proud to introduce a 5 minute video that tells who we are, what power beaming is and what applications we think it can enhance or enable.

Many thanks to Owen Kindig of Ztoryteller for his awesome work in creating this video.

June was an extremely busy month at LaserMotive, and although I tweeted the news, I realize I never posted it here:

LaserMotive was one of the companies chosen as a semi-finalist in the CleanTech Open business competition in the Pacific Northwest division. We are proud to have been chosen, and will be working hard in the next two months to prepare our entry for the final round this fall.

About the Cleantech Open
The Cleantech Open is the world’s largest cleantech business competition. Its mission is to find, fund and foster entrepreneurs with big ideas that address today’s most urgent energy, environmental and economic challenges. The program provides the infrastructure, expertise and strategic relationships to turn clever ideas into successful global cleantech companies. Since 2006, through its one-of-a-kind annual business competition and mentorship program, the Cleantech Open has enabled hundreds of clean technology startups to bring their breakthrough ideas to fruition, helped alumni contestants raise over $260M, and created an estimated 1,200 green collar jobs. Fueled by a network of more than 600 volunteers and sponsors, the Cleantech Open unites the public and private sectors in a shared vision for making America’s cleantech sector a thriving economic engine. For more information, visit www.cleantechopen.com, and follow @cleantechopen on Twitter.

LaserMotive issued a press release today: Team LaserMotive Announces Latest Sponsors for Its Entry in the 2010 Power Beaming Competition. We will be blogging about each new sponsor individually in the near future.

KENT, WA–(Marketwire – June 15, 2010) – LaserMotive, an independent R&D company specializing in laser power beaming and winner of the 2009 NASA-sponsored Power Beaming Competition, has announced its newest sponsors for its entry in the 2010 Space Elevator Games. At stake is a purse prize of up to $1.1 million.

Sponsors announced today include Zaber Technologies, a manufacturer of computer-controlled linear actuators, stages, mirror mounts, motors and other devices; Ophir Spiricon, a global leader in precision IR optics components and laser measurement equipment; and National Instruments, pioneers of virtual instrumentation for the measurement and automation industry. All three companies join LaserMotive’s growing list of corporate sponsors, including industry notables such as Boeing and DILAS, for its 2010 entry in the NASA Centennial Challenge Power Beaming Competition, also known as the Space Elevator Games. LaserMotive won a purse prize of nearly $1 million in the 2009 Competition, marking the first time a company had won since the Competition’s inception.

“We’re pleased to announce these industry partners as sponsors of Team LaserMotive as we prepare to enter the next round of the Power Beaming Competition in 2010,” said Tom Nugent, president and co-founder of LaserMotive. “Laser power beaming — the wireless transfer of energy from one location to another using laser light — offers tremendous potential to businesses in a wide variety of industries, ranging from alternative energy to unmanned aerial vehicles. Not only do we believe that the sponsorships will enhance the development of our entry for this year’s Competition, but the technology developed can be used to further practical applications for laser power beaming, both near and long term.” In May 2010, LaserMotive announced its blueprint for creating the first endless power system for unmanned aerial vehicles, based on technology LaserMotive developed for its winning entry in the 2009 Power Beaming Competition.

Headquartered in Kent, Wash., LaserMotive is a privately-held R&D company specializing in laser power beaming for commercial applications. The company was co-founded in 2006 by Dr. Jordin Kare, one of the foremost experts on laser propulsion, and Tom Nugent, former Research Director for LiftPort Group. Its industry partners include some of the leading companies in aerospace and lasers, including The Boeing Company, DILAS, MS Kennedy, 4D Optical, and In-Tec. For more information, please visit the company website at www.lasermotive.com.

Daniel Terdiman’s CNET blog post, “The laser turns 50” highlights the history of the laser and celebrates the fact that Sunday, May 16th is the 50th anniversary of the demonstration of the first working laser.

This entire year, there are various events to celebrate the 50th anniversary as part of LaserFest. Check it out to learn about the many ways lasers have changed the world in the last 50 years. And come back here from time to time to see a few ways that lasers will change the world in the next 50 years!

LaserMotive is now distributing a white paper on power beaming to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). We look forward to working with the builders and users of UAVs to prototype and demonstrate “eternal” electric UAVs. If you’re interested, please contact us to explore ways we can work together to develop a laser-powered UAV system.

We issued a press release for this news, and here is the text of the press release:

LaserMotive Unveils Strategy for First Laser-Powered Fuel System for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

New System Supplies Unlimited Power, Extends UAV Abilities and Enables New Missions

Kent, Wash. (May 4, 2010) – LaserMotive, a leading R&D company specializing in laser power beaming and winner of the NASA-sponsored 2009 Power Beaming Competition, has unveiled its blueprint for creating the first endless power system for unmanned aerial vehicles.

The proposed system is based on technology LaserMotive developed for its winning entry in the Power Beaming Competition for a prize of nearly $1 million – the first time any entrant has won the competition.

The new system will use laser power beaming – the wireless transfer of energy from one location to another using laser light – to create an unlimited source of power for unmanned aerial vehicles, one of the largest growth sectors in the aerospace and defense industries. According to industry research firm Teal Group, the market for unmanned aerial vehicles (also known as UAVs) is expected to grow worldwide from $4.9 billion annually to $11.5 billion annually in the next 10 years.

“Today’s announcement marks an important step not only in powering UAVs, but in extending their abilities, improving their endurance and enabling new missions,” said Tom Nugent, president and co-founder of LaserMotive. “Because laser power beaming enables electric aircraft to be recharged in flight, it is especially viable for high-altitude, long endurance unmanned aerial vehicles and other types of aircraft that need to power over a long period of time.”

LaserMotive is planning to develop a demonstration model of an airborne vehicle powered by laser before the end of this year. The first working prototypes of the new system could be available within as little as 18 months.

Headquartered in Kent, Wash., LaserMotive is a privately-held R&D company specializing in laser power beaming for commercial applications. The company was co-founded in 2006 by Dr. Jordin Kare, one of the foremost experts on laser propulsion, and Tom Nugent, former Research Director for LiftPort Group. Its industry partners include some of the leading companies in aerospace and lasers, including The Boeing Company, DILAS, MS Kennedy, Ophir Spiricon, 4D Optical, and In-Tec. For more information, including the white paper on LaserMotive’s UAV strategy, please visit the company website at www.lasermotive.com.

As you can see, the LaserMotive website is sporting a brand new look. The new design reflects our business focus now that we’ve won the 2009 Power Beaming competition and brought on some full-time staff. The design will be undergoing some tweaks over the next few days, so check back next week (when we will also have more news)!

We have been hard at work for the last week revamping the LaserMotive website to highlight our growth from only competing in the NASA-sponsored Power Beaming competition, to a commercial endeavor pursuing near-term commercial power beaming. The new site will contain much more information about LaserMotive’s vision of the future of power beaming.

Check back next week to see the completely new look!

Gregory Huang over at Xconomy.com posted a great article about LaserMotive’s success to date and, more importantly, our plans for the future. Go check it out!

Beaming Power to UAVs, Space Elevators, and Someday, Earth: The LaserMotive Plan

UPDATE: The story got slashdotted. And then it got picked up by Popular Science (PopSci.com) with their own spin on it.

NASA has put their video summarizing the 2009 Centennial Challenges online. Team LaserMotive is featured prominently in the Power Beaming segment.

It’s no secret that one critical factor in the 2009 competition success of LaserMotive came from extensive testing of the climber at the team’s facility on the specially designed vertical treadmill, which allows the team the opportunity to collect real time data on Otis’s performance, as well as seeing how the machine performs over a full kilometer test without having to leave the office.

Like a car taking practice laps on a racetrack, the treadmill allows the team a chance to test new ideas and combinations to find out what works the best before the actual race begins.

And with a bigger, better goal and prize on the line for Phase 2, it was time for a better treadmill.

Back in January, the entire team took a quick break from working on their individual systems to help topple the 18-foot treadmill, tipping it on to its side to begin work. It is the first time in a year that the giant piece of machinery came down, leaving something of an empty space in the back corner of the team’s shop.

The formerly vertical treadmill. Watch your head!

The plan is to retrofit the treadmill to include a motor-driven wheel that will allow the team to measure the output of the climbing vehicle’s motor, effectively turning the treadmill into a dynamometer.

In addition, the bicycle wheels that guide the cable around the treadmill are being replaced with double-walled wheels to cut down on vibrations created when the cable passes over the spots where the spokes connect to the rims. Such vibrations may not seem like something that could cause such a major difference, but the more accurate the data you can gather, the better your vehicle will be. One of the wheels is also being put on a moving axis to allow the team to control the tension on the cable, which despite being metal can stretch, changing the conditions on the treadmill. Because the cable is a fixed length, the addition of the fifth wheel requires the top of the treadmill to also be lowered some to accommodate the new, wider path of the cable.

It’s a lot of work, but the ability of the team to test and retest the climber in conditions that simulate the real world challenge and make the adjustments based on test results instead of theories is one of the things that helped LaserMotive claim the Level 1 prize in November.

Now the hope is the new and improved treadmill can help get Otis into tip-top shape when the team goes after the Level 2 prize later this year!