A Nonlinear Resonance Paradigm Enabling Position-agile Wireless Power Transmission

About This Grant

The aim of this project is to research a novel high-order nonlinear resonance wireless power transfer (WPT) approach for implementation in practical position-agile WPT applications ranging from dynamic and opportunistic electric vehicle (EV) charging to powering biomedical devices. Inductive coupling near-field WPT is an emerging technology with an immense potential for a wide range of applications. WPT systems use dedicated sources or transmitters for contactless electrical power transfer at different power levels ranging from milliwatts to kilowatts. Although some commercial products have adopted WPT technology, the technology remains underdeveloped because of the limitations imposed by sensitivity to alignment and position in current WPT systems. For example, in wireless EV charging, the system's sensitivity to vehicle's tire size, speed, and position could significantly degrade power transfer efficiency. This project will develop a new position-agile WPT technology based on high-order nonlinear resonance, founded on a unique topology. The new WPT technology offers an effective solution to address the sensitivity of WPT efficiency without any complex feedback or sensor circuitry requirement. Within the field of biomedical devices, when wirelessly powering implants, this approach provides a robust WPT solution that does not hinder patient's mobility and can wirelessly power a host of biomedical devices, which not only improves patients' lives but also reduces the burden on the healthcare industry. The multidisciplinary nature of the project involves nonlinear circuit analysis, mathematics, power electronics, radio frequency engineering, and applications ranging from automotive to biomedical engineering. The project will involve students of various levels in research, including graduate students, undergraduate students through Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program, and K-12 students from local community. The goal of this project is to demonstrate a fundamentally new "position-agile" WPT paradigm employing high-order nonlinear resonance for highly efficient power transmission that is insensitive to misalignment and transfer distance. The proposed research centers on a detailed theoretical and experimental study of the nonlinear circuits in WPT to automatically compensate for the variation in the coupling factor due to changes in distance and alignment between the transmitter and the receiver. In contrast to conventional methods, this approach neither varies the operating frequency nor must use any active matching circuitry involving feedback and control algorithms. Additionally, this approach has the advantage of providing a low-cost, low-complexity, rapid-response and highly reliable solution for practical position-agile WPT design. The first research task of this project is to design and construct a WPT system prototype for demonstration and validation of the novel approach. The second research task is to design, fabricate and test a position-agile multi-input, multi-output WPT system, where the high-order nonlinear resonance innately balances the power transfer to multiple receivers simultaneously. The third research task is to design and develop experimentation for a position-agile high-power WPT system with distributed nonlinear devices to study the capability of this approach for achieving high-power rapid charging. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.