To acquire high efficiency and reduce electromagnetic interference in wireless high-power charging for electric vehicles (EVs), it is of great importance to realize accurate zero voltage switching angle (ZVSA) control of the inverter. However, the traditional zero-crossing detection cannot be applied in high power because of considerable noise and poor accuracy in wide power range applications. In this paper, to suppress the noise in high power, a current hysteresis comparator is adopted, and an enhanced phase detection methodology is proposed to measure the phase of resonant current by using a reference signal produced by a processor. Meanwhile, to improve the accuracy of ZVSA, a uniform time delay compensation method (UTDCM) by considering the whole time delays synthetically is proposed, and a uniform time delay equation can be obtained to guarantee the high accuracy of phase detection, especially in the wide power range. Finally, a novel control strategy with the ZVSA loop based on UTDCM is proposed for battery charging in wireless high-power transfer system. A 500-W wireless power transfer prototype is built to verify the accuracy of ZVSA based on UTDCM and the system efficiency can achieve 94.17% with $k$ = 0.22.

Analysis, Design, and Implementation of Accurate ZVS Angle Control for EV Battery Charging in Wireless High-Power Transfer

Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are increasingly used for undersea exploration. The endurance of AUVs is limited by the onboard energy storage among which the battery systems dominate. Various underwater recharging methods are employed to increase the AUV range and autonomy. Currently, contact-based underwater recharging utilizes the wet-mate connector technology that requires a high-precision AUV docking, and is prone to electrical safety issues. To overcome these limitations, underwater wireless recharging techniques for AUVs have been explored in recent years. Wireless charging offers a safe and reliable method for autonomous power transfer between a charging station and a vehicle. This article reviews the state-of-the-art inductive wireless power transfer (IWPT) solutions for underwater applications and discusses the engineering challenges of the IWPT system design. Underwater environmental factors, such as seawater conductivity, temperature, pressure, water currents, and biofouling phenomenon, impose constraints on IWPT systems. A comprehensive review of AUV energy storage systems, docking methods, IWPT system control methods, and compensation networks is presented in this article. Based on the main operational and constructional principles, the AUV IWPT systems are categorized as loosely coupled transformers and resonant IWPT systems. Each of the categories is illustrated through their main design principles and implementations reported in the literature so far. Technical challenges, such as integration of IWPT system into an AUV hull, interoperability, alignment and retention issues, docking station sinking and stability, the design of pressure-tolerant charging electronics, data transfer, and the battery operation in the underwater environment are discussed in this article too. The article is concluded with the best practice overview of designing an IWPT system for AUVs.

Review of Wireless Charging Systems for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

Charging electric vehicles wirelessly is promising because of its convenience as well as saving of charging cables. However, the existing wireless power transfer systems suffer from high resonant peaks and poor efficiency. Therefore, zero voltage switching (ZVS) operation of inverter should be achieved especially in high transfer power. Based on the variable frequency phase shift control strategy (VFPSC), this paper presents an optimal operation frequency range (OOFR) where the wireless power transfer (WPT) system can realize the required output and ZVS operation of inverter simultaneously without extra dc–dc converters. Meanwhile, based on OOFR, an optimized electrical parameter design method based on VFPSC is proposed with the multiple boundary conditions. Moreover, a novel three-loop control strategy (TLCS) is proposed to make the system operate at any points of OOFR. Especially, an implementation method of the TLCS is proposed, which can dynamically adjust frequency and phase shift to make the system always operate at the preset ZVS angle and realize the required output simultaneously. Finally, a 500-W WPT system is built to verify the correctness of theoretical analysis. The experimental results show that a very high overall efficiency is achieved in the whole charging process and the maximum efficiency can achieve 94.9% with $k$ = 0.2.

Analysis, Design, and Implementation of WPT System for EV's Battery Charging Based on Optimal Operation Frequency Range

This paper presents the design of a capacitive wireless power transfer system for operation in fresh water. This paper clarifies two particular points. One is the behavior of $k$ and kQ product for the frequency; $k$ means coupling coefficient in the coupler and kQ product means the product of $k$ and $Q$ -factor in the coupler. The other is the design method of the general capacitive coupler under fresh water. First, $k$ is derived from the equivalent circuit of the coupler, and it is elucidated that $k$ and kQ product are dependent on the frequency. The pivotal elements that improve kQ product are also found. Next, it is then clarified that the design parameters at maximum kQ product have the maximum available efficiency and we clarify the applicable condition for our design method. We achieved an efficiency of 91.3% at a transfer distance of 20 mm via experimentation. Finally, it is demonstrated that power is wirelessly transferred to the Lux sensor module using our coupler implemented on the charging station and that measured data are also wirelessly transferred to it.

Design of a Capacitive Wireless Power Transfer System for Operation in Fresh Water

In a wireless power transfer system (WPTS), the control technique of the active rectifier is vital for improving the transfer efficiency of the resonant network, expanding the operating range of the load, and increasing the power density. An indispensable component of such control technique is the accurate and reliable phase-locked method for the resonant current. However, the traditional phase-locked method based on the DSP controller tends to lose driver pulses, which might cause damage to the safe operation of the WPTS. This article illustrates the essential reason why the driver pulses lose and proposes a phase-locked loop combined with the chained trigger mode (PLL-CTM) that can lock the phase of the resonant current accurately and produce the driver pulses reliably. With the proposed PLL-CTM applied, the reliability of the WPTS can be enhanced tremendously. Furthermore, based on the PLL-CTM, this article also presents a double-side phase shift control (DPSC) strategy to achieve constant-current constant-voltage charging and minimize the power loss of the resonant network simultaneously. Finally, a 500-W WPT prototype is built to verify the feasibility of the DPSC with PLL-CTM. Benefiting from the DPSC with PLL-CTM, the WPTS not only obtains a high accuracy in steady state, but also achieves a good dynamic performance with the step change of ${R_{{{\rm L}}}}$ and ${R_{{\rm {Eref}}}}$ .

Phase-Locked Loop Combined With Chained Trigger Mode Used for Impedance Matching in Wireless High Power Transfer

The feasibility of transferring power over a wide range of distances and orientation offsets has been proven in air for various commercial applications, notably in the electric vehicle industry, by using two loosely-coupled RLC circuits that are tuned to resonate at the same frequency. Key system concepts for resonant wireless power transfer, such as frequency splitting, maximum operating distance, and behavior of the system as it becomes over and under coupled, are well understood theoretically, and demonstrated experimentally. Although prior work on WPT in air is quite extensive and mature, very little research has been conducted on underwater WPT. In particular, no studies have been published describing how basic system concepts vary within a conducting medium such as seawater. In this paper, we report the results of experiments addressing the effects of seawater conductivity on underwater resonant wireless power transfer, compared to the basic system concepts exhibited in air. Results indicate that the losses due to seawater become noticeable for frequencies around 20 kHz, and can be large for frequencies above 50 kHz.

Kevin Lin

Papers

Underwater wireless power transfer