Improved power flow control for contactless moving sensor applications

An improved power flow control method for contactless moving sensor applications is proposed. The method allows the design of a system where sensors with different power ratings or a wide range of load variations can be implemented. A phase-controlled variable inductor is used to tune the resonant circuit of the power pickups of an inductively coupled power transfer (ICPT) system according to the actual power requirements of the sensors, thereby, helping to reduce the power losses without affecting the maximum power transfer capacity. Soft switching is achieved in the variable inductor control, and the effect of the equivalent tuning parameters on the power flow is analyzed theoretically. Simulation results show that a significant improvement of the existing controllers is achieved at no load or very lightly loaded conditions.