Research projects & prototypes on vehicles wireless charguing.

If you remember from our previous post, we have two kind of wireless charging methods.

The static one that works when vehicles are not moving; and the dynamic one that works when the vehicle is on the go.

As promised before, here are some of the recent researches that have been conducted, some prototypes and some trials. Fasten your seat belts, we are going to start!

·       Flanders Drive Research Project: a partnership between vehicle OEMs (Volvo, Vanhool), inductive charger providers (Inverto, Bombardier), universities (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) and many more, conducted a research and evaluate different applications of wireless charging.

   In the static charging, the power transfer and efficiency of the vehicle will depends on its                    positioning.   They studied the implications on cars.

                

In the dynamic method, a full road is equipped with an inductive stretch. Power transfer will occur for any vehicle equipped. The research they did on dynamics focused only on buses.

For the system to work, speed was a key element as well as vehicle positioning.  Dynamic charging could be complemented by charging buses at bus stops. Main problems were grid interfacing, metering and billing.  Actually they did a trial with a prototype. Check the video!

·         Stanford University research team has also designed a high-efficiency charging system that uses magnetic fields to wirelessly transmit large electric currents between metal coils placed several feet apart. 

Their long-term goal is to develop an all-electric highway that wirelessly charges vehicles as they cruise down the road. The problem here will be how to install the system and what materials to use such as install it on the middle of the road or in the side, use asphalt or concrete and so forth.

·        The National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management has done basic research using several models, in partnership with Tokyo University.  They have verified wireless capability in an experiment using a model, enabling a stable electricity supply on the move by using a transmission coil and a receiver coil that are very different in size.

·       At the University of Karlsruhe some students have created a prototype vehicle that gets its energy from electric conducting paths on the ground tracks through electric induction.

These are just a few projects.
Want to discover more cool wireless vehicles?
Wait for my team's next post!

See you soon!