Fault Tolerant Modular Inductive Power Transfer System Design Using Resonator Coil

In this paper, a design for an inductive power transfer system with a series-series topology with an intermediate resonator is discussed. The proposed method is an improved method that is derived from a conventional IPT system design. While it is applicable for a wide range of different operations, a contactless slip ring design is the main system under investigation. The idea behind adding a resonator coil is to achieve fault tolerance where the system can operate under various open-circuited fault conditions. The proposed system is a two transmitter and four receiver with an intermediate resonator system where the Rx modules are connected parallel to a common DC-bus.

The system is found to be fault-tolerant to Rx side open circuit faults. For normal operation at rated power, 90.6\% efficiency was achieved.