1. Research area:
Inductive (contactless) Power Transfer – IPT
Thesis Title:
A New Magnetic Coupling Pad Topology for Inductively Powered Vehicular Systems
Thesis Contribution:
The thesis introduces a new magnetic coupling pad topology, called the Bi-Polar Pad (BPP) topology,
and gauges its effectiveness for both the AGV (Automatic Guided Vehicle) and lumped IPT system
applications.
The work includes a detailed magnetic optimization study of the new topology to meet specific
system requirements with minimal material usage. Comprehensive comparative studies were also
conducted to demonstrate that the new topology matched or exceeded the performance of the existing
known pad topologies while using less material. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the new and
existing multicoil topologies could be used on the primary side to reduce the weight, cost and size of
the secondary side, while maintaining a high tolerance to lateral misalignment and interoperability
between various topologies.
The analysis performed in these studies was supported by simulation and experimental results. The
outcomes of this work were published in renowned IEEE international journals and conference
proceedings.
Supervisors:
Dr. Dariusz Kacprzak
Prof. Grant Covic
Advisors:
Prof. Emer. John Boys
Dr. Patrick Hu
Dr. Nicholas Keeling