The possibility of increasing the transmission efficiency in mid-range wireless power transfer (WPT) applications can be achieved by inserting resonant relay coils between the transmitting and receiving sides of the device, forming an array of magnetically coupled resonant circuits, over which a receiver can be placed. This is a very cheap solution for improving the performance of the WPT apparatus, even if the complexity of the system increases, requiring a complete and detailed investigation for a smart design and control of the apparatus. The presented study investigates the current distribution in the coils of the array, which revealed strong peaks in magnitude depending on the load and receiver position. The analysis is carried out with the transmission line (TL) theory and it is performed for different positions of the receiver, as well as for different load conditions. Furthermore, a real application is considered and discussed, which includes the presence of a power converter as power supply and a battery charging system as load. Each resonant circuit resonates at 150 kHz and the whole apparatus is capable to transmit power up to 1 kW with an efficiency around 70%. The theoretical results have been validated with experimental measurements.

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Receiver position sensing is investigated in a dynamic wireless power transfer (DWPT) system for electric vehicle (EV) charging. Exploiting the peculiar behaviour of the resonator arrays input impedance, it is possible to identify the position of the receiver coil by exciting the first array resonator with a signal at a proper frequency and measuring the resulting current. An analytical expression of the input impedance of the resonator array coupled with the EV receiver coil placed in a generic position is provided; its sensitivity to different circuit parameters is also analysed. The outline of a simple and effective algorithm for the localization of the EV is proposed and applied to a test case.

This paper analyzes two different design procedures for a series-parallel compensated WPT battery charger, based on different definitions of the operating resonant frequency in the condition of maximum link efficiency. The behaviour of the voltage gain magnitude and the input impedance angle of the resulting WPT links is studied for different loads and coupling coefficients. The design algorithms are supported by analytical formulas derived from an exact circuit analysis of the WPT link, avoiding approximations as far as possible. To support the theoretical approach a case study is proposed, in which both design procedures are implemented considering specifications in line with the actual automotive standards. To conclude, a characterization of the efficiency in both cases is derived.

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