An Inductive Wireless Charging Solution For Underwater Vehicles

Various unmanned underwater machines are increasingly used for undersea exploration, especially the autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). The AUVs can operate in inaccessible areas which include under the ice, deep oceans, and military zones. They spend longer duration underwater which leads to depletion of battery charge. Charging of batteries is one of the challenges that AUV s face. The conventional methods adopted to keep the system powered are battery swapping and direct electric charging (DEC) techniques. Battery swapping is frequently time-consuming, the DEC requires extremely precise alignment and corrosion and biofouling pose a risk to the system's integrity. With a significant degree of misalignment between the coils, inductive wireless power transfer (IWPT) solutions are more secure, practical, dependable, and effective. The conductivity and separation between the coils greatly affect the optimum frequency for efficient power transfer. This work proposes inductive wireless power transfer and recharging solutions for underwater vehicles which are automatically tuned to the optimum frequency of power transfer with good quality(Q) factor.