Automatic wireless power supply system to autonomous underwater vehicles by means of electromagnetic coupler

With the aim of sending electric power to autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), an automatic wireless power supply system by means of electromagnetic coupler was proposed. An equivalent circuit of the electromagnetic coupler with compensating capacitors was presented to analyze the performance of the system. The magnetizing inductance and leakage inductance, which are important for choosing compensating capacitors, were calculated by finite element analysis (FEA) methods. Then the voltage gain, power loss and system efficiency were analyzed to optimize the winding turns. Finally, a phase-shift full bridge zero-voltage-switching converter and an electromagnetic coupler were produced. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed system has a high voltage gain with small variation and sufficient power feeding.