A Novel Contactless Battery Charging System for Soccer Playing Robot

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel contactless battery charging system using capacitive power transfer (CPT) technology. The aim is to achieve an intervention-free energy replenishment system for soccer playing robots. When the battery level of a soccer playing robot is detected to be low, it is navigated to the battery charging station to charge up automatically. Although inductive power transfer (IPT) technology has been investigated for such an application, the CPT technology provides a new solution which can transfer power across metal barriers and reduce electromagnetic interference (EMI). This paper covers system design of a power converter for high frequency electric field generation, proper coupling between the primary circuit and the power pick-up on board the robot, as well as the pick-up battery charging. Simulation and experimental results have proven the working of the proposed contactless battery charging system.