In this paper, a wireless power transmission system using magnetic resonance coupling was proposed and demonstrated for supplying power at high efficiency to electrical devices in a space enclosed by metal walls. This is applicable to power supply to electrical sensors or devices working in the area surrounded by metal walls. Proposed magnetic resonance coupling system is driven at a resonance frequency of 50 Hz, which is selected to avoid eddy current loss on the surrounding metals. Firstly, resonator designs and its performance limitation were described. Secondly, the equivalent circuits and theoretical transmission efficiency were presented. Finally, power transmission was experimentally demonstrated and transmission efficiency was measured in some conceivable situations. As a result, electric power of 3 W was supplied to LEDs over a stainless steel wall. When the stainless steel wall thickness was 10 mm, transmission efficiency of approximately 40% was achieved over the transmission distance of 12 cm. Moreover, in the demonstration of transmission through a metal pipe, 1.2 W of power was transmitted to LEDs in a 10 mm thick metal pipe.

Wireless power transfer (WPT) from a transmitter resonator on the ground to an electrically powered miniature heli-copter was attempted to demonstrate WPT using magnetic resonance coupling to an object moving in 3D space. The transmission efficiency was optimized by automatic impedance matching for different flight attitudes: a maximum flight altitude of 590 mm was achieved. Furthermore, an estimation method of transmission efficiency using only the properties on the transmitter side was proposed, with transmission power regulated as constant against the change in the coupling coefficient.

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