OSSIA COTA FOREVER BATTERY: COLLABORATIVE DESIGN

PLAYING THE ROLE OF ‘CUSTOMER’

Ossia is building a system which will allow for truly wireless power – without charging cables or pads. They license their technology to companies creating the end product, like cell phones, game controllers, or any other device which could be made to charge without wires. They selected Simplexity as their trusted partner to help them develop prototypes to show off their innovative system. Playing the customer is an interesting role for Simplexity, helping Ossia develop not only the physical prototypes, but also writing documentation and troubleshooting any issues along the way.

THE REFERENCE DESIGN: COTA FOREVER BATTERY

The show-piece prototype that Simplexity helped Ossia develop is the Cota Forever Battery. This AA-sized battery can be inserted into any battery-operated device to enable wireless charging. Wireless charging means no more trips to the store for AA batteries to power your cordless mouse and no more booting up your console just to realize you forgot to plug in your game controller.

Simplexity started from a reference design which was built as more of a development kit, implementing all possible features of the product. For the battery we needed to shrink down to 7% of the original board space, meaning every aspect of the design needed to be analyzed for removal and miniaturization. Simplexity also took on the task of designing the packaging for the product. This challenge included balancing goals of ease-of-assembly and resistance to damage with the need to fit as large of an internal battery as possible. Special end caps were designed which made spring-contact with edge plating on the PCB. Ossia has deep expertise in RF design, so collaboration on the board layout and antenna design was key to making the prototype a success.

DOCUMENTATION TO FACILITATE MORE APPLICATIONS

As one of the first partners Ossia had worked with on a prototype, Simplexity was able to proofread and suggest edits to the documentation for their Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). This document could then be given to potential licensees to help them evaluate the technology and allow them to design the ASIC into their own system. As a fresh pair of eyes, Simplexity found areas of the documentation which needed more explanation, and collaboratively wrote sections of the reference document which needed updating during the Cota Forever Battery development.

At the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the Forever Battery earned Ossia a CES Innovation Award and was prominently featured in technical articles around the web. The battery was a great show piece to demonstrate the potential capability of the system, and later the associated reference documentation can be given to potential licensees for evaluation. Collaborating with Simplexity helped Ossia’s confidence in their product grow and assured them that their potential licensees will be able to quickly understand that the Ossia Cota system is worth installing in their device.

If you want to learn more about the collaborations and design of the Ossia Cota Forever Battery, check out our case study!