Wireless Charging for AGV: An Analysis to the Existing Solutions and a Novel Architecture

The scope of applications of mobile robots or AGV is being expanded, and wireless charging is beneficial for AGV automated charging to replace the conventional contact charging. Volume of the power receiver side, and the system efficiency, are critical for the AGV wireless charging systems. With 50 Hz AC input, and relatively low voltage DC output for AGV batteries, based on the differences in how to implement voltage step-down in the system, 3 types of existing solutions of AGV wireless charging are summarized and analyzed, and a conclusion is made that none of them is completely suitable for AGV applications. A novel architecture, which is with many advantages thus suitable for AGV wireless charging, is derived. A prototype is built and tested to prove its good Rx volume and high system efficiency, a comparison is made to prove the advantages of the novel architecture over the 3 types of existing solutions.