An Inductive Power Transfer System for Lunar Rovers

With the continuous development of the inductive power transfer technology (IPT), near-field wireless energy transmission technology has a huge application prospect in the space field, which can provide a powerful solution for the safe and efficient interconnection of space energy. In this paper, an inductive power transfer system for lunar rovers is proposed, and the equivalent AC impedance model of LCC/S topology is established. To solve the problem of excessively large magnetic flux leakage of loosely coupling transformer (LCT), magnetic coupler with vertical and horizontal shielding is designed based on the method of finite element analysis (FEA). A 280- W prototype is built for experiments. The maximum transmission efficiency of the prototype is 92.5%, and the minimum transmission efficiency is 91 %. The FEA simulation and experimental results verify the feasibility of the magnetic shielding structure design method. The results show that the proposed magnetic shielding structure increases the strength of magnetic field, effectively reduces the eddy current loss caused by magnetic field leakage.