Application of a Design for Excellence Methodology for a Wireless Charger Housing in Underwater Environments

Abstract

A major effort is put into the production of green energy as a countermeasure to climatic changes and sustainability. Thus, the energy industry is currently betting on offshore wind energy, using wind turbines with fixed and floating platforms. This technology can benefit greatly from interventive autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to assist in the maintenance and control of underwater structures. A wireless charger system can extend the time the AUV remains underwater, by allowing it to charge its batteries through a docking station. The present work details the development process of a housing component for a wireless charging system to be implemented in an AUV, addressed as wireless charger housing (WCH), from the concept stage to the final physical verification and operation stage. The wireless charger system prepared in this research aims to improve the longevity of the vehicle mission, without having to return to the surface, by enabling battery charging at a docking station. This product was designed following a design for excellence (DfX) and modular design philosophy, implementing visual scorecards to measure the success of certain design aspects. For an adequate choice of materials, the Ashby method was implemented. The structural performance of the prototypes was validated via a linear static finite element analysis (FEA). These prototypes were further physically verified in a hyperbaric chamber. Results showed that the application of FEA, together with well-defined design goals, enable the WCH optimisation while ensuring up to 75% power efficiency. This methodology produced a system capable of transmitting energy for underwater robotic applications.

Wireless Power Transfer for Unmanned Underwater Vehicles: Technologies, Challenges and Applications

“…This suggests that for low frequency and power values, permeability is not compromised. Another related work is the one by [181], where the authors designed a housing for a wireless charger implemented in an AUV to reduce the effects of the harsh environment and successfully tested it in a hyperbaric chamber at 30 bar (300 m). Their WPT system could reach an efficiency of 75% inside the housing device.…”

Wireless Power Transfer Systems With Composite Cores for Magnetic Field Shielding With Electric Vehicles

“…Among these configurations, the circular flat spiral coil configuration has gained popularity in IPT studies because of its high-power transfer performance [25]. Previous studies [26], [27] have reported that the highest power transfer efficiency can be achieved using a pair of planar spiral coils with the same diameter. Moreover, for a pair of planar coils having same inner and outer diameters, a minimum efficiency of 80% can be achieved when the inner-to-outer diameter ratio is < 0.5 [28].…”

“…This code has been validated via international intercomparison study [79]. This represented exposure to the external WPT magnetic field, wherein the presence of the human body model did not retroact on the external magnetic field distribution [26]. In addition, at low frequencies, the displacement current could be disregarded.…”