Summary In systems disconnected from the external grid, such as mobile robots and vehicles, the effective use of renewables and energy harvesting techniques helps a longer operation with less weight and space for batteries. Power packet dispatching system is a promising measure to manage the complex power flow created by such distributed power sources of various profiles. In the system, power is transferred as a pulse, and information tag is attached to the pulse power in voltage waveforms. The physical integration of power and information realizes a smooth inclusion of sources and loads of different profiles and their decentralized operation. This paper discusses the application of the system to load control. We propose a decentralized packet‐based feedback control scheme. The successful operation of the proposed scheme is confirmed by an application to an electrical drive. In addition, the application to trajectory control of 2‐degree‐of‐freedom manipulator reveals the possibility of a peak‐power reduction based on a demand response operation of the proposed scheme. The results contribute to a realization of decentralized flow control of power packets based on the convenience of both the sources and the loads.

The power packet dispatching system is one method of electric power management with distributed power sources. The system introduces power sources and loads of different profiles and a flexible attachment/detachment of a part of them without interacting with the rest. The focus points are the physical packetization and their time-division multiplexing on the shared power line. This study verifies these concepts in industrial applications. First, experimental setups for the transfer of power packets to loads of various voltage/power requirements are developed. Then, experimental verification of the principal concepts is demonstrated with a setup assumed to be part of a robotic manipulator.

In this study, electric power is processed using the logic operation method and the error correction algorithms to meet load demand. Electric power was treated as the physical flow through the distribution network, which was governed by circuit configuration and efficiency. The hardware required to digitize or packetize electric power, which is called power packet router, was developed in this research work for low power distribution. It provides an opportunity for functional electric power dispatching while disregarding the power flow in the circuit. This study proposes a new design for the network, which makes the logic operation of electric power possible and provides an algorithm to correct the inaccuracies caused by dissipation and noise. Phase shift of the power supply network is resulted by implementing the introduced design.

In the power packet dispatching system, electric power is transferred with information tags attached physically. An application of the system to robots can enable flexible and efficient power management with a dynamically varying power-line connection between power sources and loads. In this paper, a numerical simulation verifies the achievement of a trajectory control of a manipulator by power packets. As a result, it is clarified that a conventional power conversion system at the load side can be replaced by a packet generating system at the source side. This can be a step for new power management inside robots with power packets.