(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2022-08)
Radcliff, Johnathan McKinley
As the world moves away from using wired connections to transmit data, wireless power transfer (WPT) offers another opportunity for "cutting the cord." Technologies such as magnetic induction and radiative transmission already allow for energy to flow without a physical medium. However, these solutions are not without their limitations: magnetic induction's short range keeps devices tethered to their charging docks, inhibiting mobility; radiative transfer is highly inefficient and has safety concerns due to high-energy radiofrequency exposure. Recently, WPT via magnetic resonance coupling has been proposed to replace these technologies in short-to-midrange applications due to its high efficiency and high-power throughput. Multitudes of research studies have proven its viability but fail to regard its implementation in real-world usage. In this paper, a wireless energy system is proposed that can automatically alter its circuit parameters as coil distance or alignment changes to maximize energy efficiency. Experimentation verifies this functionality and discovers a maximum end-to-end efficiency of 80.8% and an average operating efficiency of 68.7% over all distances between 0 and 1000 cm.