An Intelligent Control Methodology for In-Motion Dynamic Capacitive Wireless Power Transfer Systems

This paper proposes an intelligent control methodology for dynamic capacitive wireless power transfer (WPT) systems to maximize their in-motion charging performance. This control methodology enables the system to selectively turn on when an electric vehicle (EV) is detected and enables it to stay on for the duration when the EV passes over the charging pad. Furthermore, this methodology enables soft-start of the WPTsystem upon turn-on, which substantially reduces the inrush current through the resonant tank and prevents hard switching of the inverter transistors. This methodology also enables precise controloverthe system's vehicle-side components to compensate for coupling variations during in-motion charging. This ensures that the vehicle-side provides the required compensation, and the system maintains constant output power. The design methodology is well supported using analytical expressions and simulation results. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed control technique is experimentally validated using a 6.78-MHz 12-cm air-gap kilowatt-scale prototype capacitive WPT system.