A Dual-Receiver Inductive Charging System for Automated Guided Vehicles

As an intelligent collection of power electronics, automated guided vehicles (AGVs) tend to involve more and more devices. Thus, it is necessary to develop a versatile charger with different double outputs for AGVs. This article investigates a dual-receiver inductive charging system. Through a well-organized magnetic coupling structure, relatively load-independent outputs can be realized simultaneously by these two receivers. Specifically, the first receiver (RX#1) can realize constant current (CC) output, whereas the second one (RX#2) can achieve constant voltage (CV) output. By utilizing such a passive coupling structure, complex control methods and additional decoupling circuits can be avoided, facilitating a compact and light on-board part. Moreover, this system can realize zero phase angle (ZPA) to lower the volt-ampere rating and improve the overall efficiency. Overall, a scaled-down experimental prototype with 2 A charging current and 12 V charging voltage is constructed to validate the feasibility of such a system. Experimental results demonstrate that the voltage and current deviation, compared to the reference, is as small as 3.33% and 4%, respectively, when the load at the first receiver side (RL1) varies from 5 to 10Ω. Moreover, the voltage and current deviation is as small as 3.33% and 1.5%, respectively, when the load at the second receiver side (RL2) varies from 10 to 20Ω.