Three-phase wireless power transfer system and three-phase wireless chargeable unmanned aerial vehicle system based on the same

• US 10,081,263 B2
• Filed: 02/10/2017
• Issued: 09/25/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
• Original Assignee: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
• Inventors: Kim, Joung-Ho, Song, Chi-Uk
• Primary Examiner(s): Rossoshek, Helen
• Application Number:
  US15/429,747
• Publication Number:
  US 20180056794A1
• Time in Patent Office: 592 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2200/10 Air crafts
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2210/30 AC to DC converters
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/12 Inductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/122 Circuits or methods for driving the primary coil, e.g. supplying electric power to the coil
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/126 Methods for pairing a vehicle and a charging station, e.g. establishing a one-to-one relation between a wireless power transmitter and a wireless power receiver
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/16 with five or more distinct rotor axes, e.g. octocopters
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 50/19 using electrically powered motors
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 50/38 by wireless transmission
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 60/50 with landing legs
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 70/92 Portable platforms
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/72 Electric energy management in electromobility
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/12 Electric charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/14 Plug-in electric vehicles

Abstract

Disclosed are a three-phase wireless power transfer (WPT) system and three-phase wireless rechargeable unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system based on the same. Three power receiving coils, including resonators, are installed at the ends of three landing leg of the UAV. A three-phase power converter installed in the UAV receives the three-phase AC induction current induced in three power receiving coils, including resonators, converting the three-phase AC induction current into a DC current to be charged in a battery. A three-phase power wireless charging apparatus wirelessly transfers three-phase power from three power transmitting coils to the three power receiving coils of the UAV when the three landing legs land on three coil seating units provided on a charging platform. A magnetic flux leakage shielding coil may be provided to prevent magnetic flux leakage from approaching the UAV. The power transfer efficiency is excellent, and electromagnetic interference can be also reduced.

Claims

1. A three-phase wireless-chargeable unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising:

a flight vehicle including at least three landing legs;

a three-phase power reception unit, including three coil winding members provided on three landing legs and provided as magnetic paths of magnetic fluxes, and three power receiving coils that are wound around or built in the three coil winding members respectively and connected to each other in a Y-connection or Δ

-connection, for wirelessly receiving power from a three-phase wireless power transfer (WPT) apparatus through three-phase alternating currents (AC) which are induced by three-phase alternating magnetic fluxes, generated by the three-phase WPT apparatus, that interlink with the three power receiving coils, respectively;

a three-phase power converter, being installed in the flight vehicle, for converting the three-phase ACs induced in the three power receiving coils into a direct current (DC); and

a battery, being installed in the flight vehicle, for charging the DC output from the three-phase power converter.

2. The three-phase wireless-chargeable UAV according to claim 1, wherein the three-phase power reception unit further includes a protection cap for protecting the coil winding member and the power receiving coils by enclosing the same together.

3. The three-phase wireless-chargeable UAV according to claim 1, further comprising a resonator, being connected to each of the three power receiving coils, for minimizing reactive power in a system by causing a resonance current to flow through each of the three power receiving coils.

4. The three-phase wireless-chargeable UAV to claim 1, wherein each of the three coil winding members is connected to an end of each of the three landing legs and functions as a landing part of the UAV.

5. A three-phase wireless-charging apparatus for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising:

a charging platform including a coil seating unit for seating three power receiving coils that are connected to each other in a Y-connection or A-connection and installed in the UAV for wirelessly receiving electric power; and

a three-phase power transmission unit including three power transmitting coils, being installed in the coil seating unit and connected to each other in a Y-connection or Δ

-connection, for forming three magnetic fields in the coil seating unit by flowing three-phase ACs,

wherein when the three power receiving coils are seated on the coil seating unit, the three power transmitting coils are magnetically coupled with the three power receiving coils through the three magnetic fields, thereby wirelessly transferring three-phase power to the three power receiving coils.

6. The three-phase wireless-charging apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the coil seating unit includes three coil seating sinks for receiving the three power receiving coils, respectively.

7. The three-phase wireless-charging apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the three power receiving coils are installed on three landing legs of the UAV, and when the three landing legs are seated in the three coil seating sinks, the three power receiving coils are automatically positioned in the three magnetic fields generated by the three power transmitting coils, respectively.

8. The three-phase wireless-charging apparatus according to claim 6, wherein each of the three coil seating sinks includes a circular conical surface forming an inlet that becomes gradually narrower from the top to the bottom, and an insertion groove provided at the lowest position of the circular conical surface, wherein each of the power transmitting coils is disposed in the insertion groove, and wherein the landing legs slide downward when each of the three landing legs lands at any point on the circular conical surface so as to automatically enter the insertion groove and to be positioned in each of the three magnetic fields.

9. The three-phase wireless-charging apparatus according to claim 8, wherein at least a side wall and a bottom defining the insertion groove are made of a ferromagnetic material and provided as a magnetic path for a magnetic flux generated by each of the three power transmitting coils.

10. The three-phase wireless-charging apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a transmitter resonator, being connected to each of the three power transmitting coils, for allowing a resonant current to flow through the three power transmitting coils.

11. The three-phase wireless-charging apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a three-phase power transmission unit further comprises a three-phase power inverter for changing a DC into three-phase ACs of a desired frequency and providing the three-phase ACs to each of the three power transmitting coils.

12. The three-phase wireless-charging apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the transmitter resonator includes a plurality of resonance capacitors connected in series or in parallel to each of the three power transmitting coils.

13. The three-phase wireless-charging apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising three magnetic flux leakage shielding coils for shielding magnetic flux leakage without being interlinked with the three power receiving coils among the magnetic fluxes generated by the three power transmitting coils, thereby minimizing an influence of the magnetic flux leakage on a magnetic flux leakage region.

14. The three-phase wireless-charging apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising a leakage resonator, being connected to each of the three magnetic flux leakage shielding coils, for cancelling the magnetic flux leakage based on resonance caused by a current induced by the magnetic flux leakage.

15. The three-phase wireless-charging apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the leakage resonator comprises at least any one of three first leakage resonators causing resonance corresponding to an operating frequency component of a system and three second leakage resonators causing resonance corresponding to the harmonic frequency components of the system.

16. The three-phase wireless-charging apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the three magnetic flux leakage shielding coils are disposed around entrances of the three coil seating units, respectively.

17. A three-phase wireless power transfer (WPT) system, comprising:

a three-phase power transmission unit including three power transmitting coils for generating magnetic fields by allowing three-phase alternating currents to flow, respectively, and transmitter resonators, being coupled to the three power transmitting coils respectively, for allowing resonant currents to flow for minimizing a reactive power in a system; and

a three-phase power reception unit including three power receiving coils which are arranged to be paired with the three power transmitting coils one to one such that each of the three power receiving coils is interlinked with the magnetic flux generated by each of the three power transmitting coils, thereby allowing an induced current to flow by the magnetic flux interlinkage; and

three receiver resonators added to each of the three power receiving coils so as to allow resonant currents to flow for minimizing the reactive power in the system.

18. The three-phase WPT system according to claim 17, wherein the three-phase power transmission unit further includes a three-phase power inverter that changes DC to three-phase ACs of a desired frequency and provides the three-phase ACs to the three power transmitting coils, respectively.

19. The three-phase WPT system according to claim 17, wherein the three-phase power reception unit comprises a three-phase power converter for converting three-phase ACs induced by the three receive resonators and the three power receiving coils into a DC;

and a battery for charging the DC output from the three-phase power converter.

20. The three-phase WPT system according to claim 17, further comprising three magnetic flux leakage shielding coils for shielding magnetic flux leakages without being interlinked with the three power receiving coils among the magnetic fluxes generated by the three power transmitting coils, thereby minimizing influence of the magnetic flux leakage on a magnetic flux leakage region.