Combined Foreign Object Detection and Live Object Protection in Wireless Power Transfer Systems via Real-Time Thermal Camera Analysis

The increased penetration of electric vehicles (EV) into the market has driven the research and development of more efficient and viable wireless power transfer (WPT) systems as a means of charging. The safe operation of commercial wireless charging EV stations requires both foreign object detection (FOD) and live object protection (LOP) capabilities. In this study, a real-time thermal imaging based combined FOD-LOP system, utilizing a single sensing device is proposed. Experimental results validating the systems ability in detecting foreign metal objects and representative live objects, under varying conditions, is presented.