Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 6.14
Tangled mess of power cords and chargers.
near-field applications with short distance of a few centimetres. Some appli-
cation examples include the commonly used electric toothbrush chargers that
transfer power to the brush handle through magnetic induction, a wireless
inductive charger for the iPhone [169], and more. In order to elongate the
wireless energy transmission distance, WPT with magnetic resonance was
first reported by Kurs et al. [163], and subsequently the concept has been
implemented and demonstrated by companies like Sony [170]. The proto-
type system developed by Sony is able to reach up to 60% power efficiency
with maximum power delivery at 60 W for a range of 50 cm. However, as
the distance between the coils increases slightly, the efficiency and power
throughput of the WPT system drops tremendously. Hence, there is still lots
of room for improvement in the WPT technology used in products. What is
lacking in these products is the combination and extension of WPT into a
system to be incorporated in daily life.
In this section, the research focus is on the analysis, design, and implemen-
tation of WPT resonator coils with optimal efficiency and form factor to charge
consumer electronic devices and portable gadgets in a connected manner. The
research work was divided into two parts: (1) to explore different ways to im-
prove the efficiency of the WPT technique operating in a strongly coupled
regime and (2) to network the designed high-efficiency WPT resonator coils
together to achieve the ultimate goals of wireless and batteryless electronic
products. Several design factors, which include coil size, coil structure, and
configuration and distance between coils, that could enhance the efficiency of
the WPT system were explored and experimentally verified. The optimized
resonant coils were then networked together to receive and relay electrical
power from one resonant coil to another nearby resonator coil. By doing so,
the WPT distance between each gadget can be reduced and the form factor
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