Bidirectional Inductive Power Transfer for Unmanned Underwater Vehicles

Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) is an important equipment for human exploration and the development of marine resources. UUV's long-term cruise relies on timely power replenishment, in which wireless charging is a feasible way. In some special cases, in addition to charging the UUVs by the charging base station, it is also necessary to exchange power among different UUVs. This paper initially analyzes a bidirectional inductive power transfer (B-IPT) system designed for UUVs and assesses the efficiency of both forward and reverse transmission using an equivalent mutual inductance network. Subsequently, the dependence of forward and reverse efficiency on mutual inductance and load variations is obtained; then, an integration structure of magnetic coupler and cabin is proposed. Finally, an 800W B-IPT system is implemented. The forward energy transfer efficiency is measured to be 82.18%, while the reverse efficiency is found to be 73.63%.