An Advanced Multidimensional Anti-Misalignment Coupler for AUV Wireless Charging Systems

Complex underwater environments with multidimensional offsets in position and angle raise high demands on the anti-misalignment properties of couplers for Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) wireless charging systems. Based on the urgent requirements, this paper introduces a novel, and simple structured AUV coupler that can effectively mitigate coupling fluctuations due to physical offsets without additional control. The proposed coupler integrates the distributed-turn winding coil with a ferrite array and the magnetic field distribution is analyzed. Besides, the design algorithm of the proposed coupler is further proposed. Considering experimental and simulation results comprehensively, it demonstrates that the proposed AUV coupler has exceptional multidimensional anti-misalignment properties and a wide range of anti-misalignment regions.