A Wireless Power Pickup Based on Directional Tuning Control of Magnetic Amplifier

This paper proposes a novel inductor-capacitor-inductor wireless power pickup with directional tuning control (DTC) for a magnetic amplifier. The proposed technique allows the power pickup to achieve full-range tuning/detuning operation to regulate power flow and maintain the output voltage to be constant. The method eliminates the tedious fine-tuning process associated with traditional fixed power pickup tuning methods and eases the component selection. Moreover, it can overcome the online circuit parameter variations and automatically achieve the maximum power transfer capacity when required. In order to meet dynamic load demands, a magnetic amplifier is used as a variable inductor and is controlled by a novel DTC algorithm to change the tuning condition of the power pickup. The effectiveness of the proposed power pickup and its applicability to general wireless power transfer applications have been demonstrated by both simulation and experimental results.