Design and Analysis of an H-Type Pickup for Multi-Segment Wireless Power Transfer Systems

Abstract

To tackle the complex wireless power supply requirements in the Automated Material Handling System (AMHS) of semiconductor wafer factories, this paper presents a design method for a magnetic coupling mechanism based on a Multi-Segment Wireless Power Transfer (MSWPT) system for dynamic wireless power supply in segmented track configurations. Firstly, the track is approached using Inductive Power Transfer (IPT) technology combined with an LCC-S resonant structure transmitter (Tx). Following this, the feasibility of the H-type pickup is assessed through magnetic and electrical circuit analyses, which leads to the preliminary determination of the pickup dimensions by means of finite element magnetic and thermal simulations. Furthermore, an analysis of the mutual inductance drop is conducted under various track structure parameters during track crossing and curve negotiation operation conditions. Secondly, a dual-coil winding method is proposed to reduce the insulation stress on the PCB board. Additionally, a method for calculating the wire length and a design process for the overall parameters of the pickup are derived. Finally, two Txs and a 1.5 kW power receiver (Rx) were designed to verify the mutual inductance fall under the aforementioned conditions. During low-speed full-load operations, a constant-voltage output was achieved through the proposed dual-loop PI control strategy, thereby meeting the requirements for a constant-voltage output in industrial applications.