The new wireless charging floor enables the mobile robots to charge quicker and more efficiently. The energy charging pads are installed in the floor and the mobile robots are equipped with receivers to charge efficiently.
The new charging technique uses the principle of electromagnetic induction. An oscillating magnetic field is created when an alternating current passes through the induction coil on the transmitter side. When this oscillating magnetic field couples with the induction coil on the receiver side, an alternating current is produced.
This new charging technique is implemented on the floor which makes it easy for the mobile robots for charging on the go. Microchip has developed a custom fixed-function device and a reference platform that is safer, more reliable and more efficient.
These fixed-function devices implement the algorithms for power control, communication and FOOD. The communication is in-band, thus, requires no external band communication schemes. The power transfer frequency ranges about 100 KHz. The power control uses a variable frequency and a variable duty cycle control of Pulse-width Modulation (PWM).
The components include the controller, FETs, regulators, and coils. The total cost of the system can be optimized within the cost of high-end metal contacts. The optimal coil design and the proprietary power control scheme maximize the efficiency of this solution. The efficiency is 90% greater at loads above 100 watts.
Unoptimized board layout will impact the wireless power functionality. This might result in poor EMI performance. The Printed Circuit Board (PCB) should be designed in such a way that the analog, digital, and power sections are well isolated to minimize noise coupling. Similarly, the EMI can be mitigated with proper control algorithms and decoupling capacitors. However, this can increase the risk of switching losses, resulting in lower efficiency. To overcome this, Microchip has introduced WP300TX01 power transmitter and WP300RX01 power receiver.
