Prize awarded for wireless energy systems

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency says it has awarded $900,000 in prize money to a Seattle company for creating a wireless energy beaming technology.

The company, LaserMotive, won the Power Beaming Challenge competition, which was a demonstration of wireless power transmission that enabled a robotic device to climb a vertical cable. NASA said the technology developed by LaserMotive might one day be used to help power a "space elevator."

The competition was held last week at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif. The Spaceward Foundation of Mountain View, Calif., manages the competition for NASA.

To win a prize, teams had to develop a power transmission system and robotic climber that could reach a height of 3,280 feet. Teams that reached the top share in a total purse of $2 million, based on their vertical speed and payload mass.

LaserMotive's average speed on their best of several successful climbs was 8.7 mph over a four minute period. By exceeding the average speed of 4.5 mph and being the only team to reach the top of the cable, LaserMotive claimed the entire $900,000 prize for that level.

Teams had to exceed an average speed of approximately 11 mph to qualify for a share of the remaining prize purse of $1.1 million. That amount will remain available for the next Power Beaming competition.