A contactless induction system for battery recharging of autonomous vehicles

Contactless induction mechanisms represent a valuable solution to recharge battery-powered vehicles when plugging to the mains reveals troublesome or impossible. A relevant example is that of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) employed in hostile environments for persistent surveillance and perils reconnaissance. To complete long duration missions, these vehicles have to land on mobile platforms several times to recharge. Specifically, the vehicle has to land on the platform, which is covered by a landing pad with copper contacts, precisely positioning on the contacts otherwise fails to recharge. Also, the recharging platform can be neutralized by dust deposited on the landing pad and corrosion due to chemical causes. A contactless power transfer system that relies on induction mechanisms and permits to improve the reliability of the recharging platform is presented. The ground electronics and the on-board front-end utilized to capture the induction flow and convert the associated power to recharge the batteries are described in detail.