Work

A Wireless Power Transfer System for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles with CC/CV Charging Based on Topology Switching

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: To enhance the battery endurance of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), this article addresses key issues in traditional wireless power transfer (WPT) systems. These issues occur during constant current/constant voltage (CC/CV) switching, such as poor stability, high payload, power loss, and charging instability. Accordingly, a WPT system based on topology switching is proposed. First, a lightweight compensation topology based on LCC-Series compensated topology (LCC-S) is designed. A tuning capacitor is incorporated, and two switches regulate the switching of the compensation capacitor to realize CC/CV mode transition. Meanwhile, the impedance matrix model is built to find optimal compensation component values, maximizing energy transfer. To reduce sensitivity to misalignment, a “+” shaped compensation coil is added to the basic 2 × 2 square coil array. It improves magnetic field uniformity and suppresses flux leakage. Experimental results show that the system achieves stable load-independent output. Within horizontal offset [−150, 150] mm and diagonal offset [−150√2, 150√2] mm, it keeps output power over 150 W and efficiency over 70%, with strong anti-misalignment ability. This system effectively solves key challenges such as endurance bottlenecks, complex CC/CV switching, and weak anti-misalignment. It offers a reliable technical solution for efficient charging of autonomous UAVs.

Source: Applied Sciences

DOI: 10.3390/app152211932