Automatic Resonance Frequency Tuning Method for Repeater in Resonant Inductive Coupling Wireless Power Transfer Systems

Intermediate resonator (repeater) in resonant inductive coupling wireless power transfer (RIC-WPT) systems can increase the transmission distance between the transmitting and receiving coils. The induced current in the repeater is easily affected by the frequency splitting phenomenon because the quality factor (Q-factor) of the repeater is generally as high as several hundreds. If this phenomenon occurs, induction of large current is often difficult in the repeater because the one peak characteristic of the induced current is no longer expected and the single peak of resonance splits into multiple peaks which shift the resonant frequency corresponding to the circuit parameters. In this paper, we approach this difficulty by applying an auxiliary circuit to the RIC-WPT system with the repeater. As a result, under the fixed operating frequency, the induced current in the repeater can be kept large even if the frequency splitting phenomenon occurs. The effectiveness of proposed system was supported by the simulation and experiment.