CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

This chapter will present the methods that will be used throughout the project completion. The
first step was determining the specifications of the system and its subsystems. This is an important
factor to set the conditions of operation and also as a guideline to design the system. The next step
was establishing a basic block diagram of the system, based on the specifications set and the
objectives to be achieved. The block diagram will provide a basic outline of the project that is to
be designed. After that, each subsystem was carefully designed and its components are determined.
Specifications and rating of each component is defined. Next, construction of the system is done
part by part, following sequence of; input supply, transmitter circuit, transmitter coil, receiver coil,
receiver circuit, and load. The subsystems are then assembled together producing the complete
prototype.

After a complete prototype is constructed, a continuity test is executed without supplying any
power to the circuit first. This step is crucial to check existence of any open circuit within the
assembled system and to prevent damage to the circuit when power is supplied due to current travel
to unintended path. The methodology flow chart of this project is illustrated in Figure 3.1.
 Define system parameters

Basic system design

Subsystem design

Component specification

Prototype construction

Prototype testing

3.2 System Specifications

The purpose of selecting specifications of the system is to set the boundary that defines the scope
of the system and also as a guideline to design the system. The process of specifying the
specifications of the system is based on the objectives of this project and also based on the research
and analysis done on other similar wireless power transfer via inductive coupling projects. The
specifications must be set to achieve short-distance wireless power transfer, at considerable
distance of 4cm, and also to power low voltage load at the receiving end, estimated at 5V. For a
better understanding, a basic block diagram is developed to identify the subsystem of the whole
system. The basic block diagram of the system is illustrated in Figure 3.2.

Power Transmitter Transmitter Receiver Receiver Load

Source Circuit Coil Coil Circuit
3.3 System Basic Design

In order to start with designing the project, it is important first to illustrate the conceptual design
of the project. Theres are three main step that had been planned in order to complete this project
which were;

Design Circuit
Simulation of Circuit
Build the Circuit

Each steps will be explained and illustrate as this report continues.

Operation of devices that comply with Wireless Power Transfer relies on magnetic induction
between planar coils. Two kinds of devices are distinguished, namely devices that provide wireless
power and devices that consume wireless power referred to as Mobile Devices. Power transfer
always takes place from a Base Station to a Mobile Device. For this purpose, a Base Station
contains a subsystem referred to as a Power Transmitter that comprises a Primary Coil, and a
Mobile Device contains a subsystem referred to as a Power Receiver comprises a Secondary Coil.
In fact, the Primary Coil and Secondary Coil form the two halves of a coreless resonant
transformer. Appropriate Shielding at the bottom face of the Primary Coil and the top face of the
Secondary Coil, as well as the close spacing of the two coils, ensures that power transfer occurs
with an acceptable efficiency. In addition, this Shielding minimizes the exposure of users to the
magnetic field.

A Power Transmitter comprises two main functional units, namely a power conversion unit and a
communications and control unit. The primary coil acts as the magnetic field generating element
of the power conversion unit. The control and communications unit regulate the transferred power
to the level that the power receiver requests. A base station may contain multiple transmitters in
order to serve multiple mobile devices simultaneously (a power transmitter can serve a single
power receiver at a time only). Finally, the system unit comprises ofall other functionality of the
base station, such as input power provisioning, control of multiple power transmitters, and user
interfacing.
The secondary receiver coils are similar designs to the primary sending coils. Running the
secondary at the same resonant frequency as the primary ensures that the secondary has low
impedance at the transmitter's frequency and that the energy is optimally absorbed. To remove
energy from the secondary coil, different methods can be used, the AC can be used directly or
rectified and a regulator circuit can be used to generate DC voltage.

The receivers main purpose is to charge a battery. A simple battery charging theory is to run
current through the battery, and apply a voltage difference between the terminals of the battery to
reverse the chemical process. By doing so, it recharges the battery. There are other efficient and
faster ways to charge the battery, but it requires a large amount of energy which the wireless battery
charger cannot obtain, yet. Therefore, in our design, we use a straight forward method to charge
the battery.

A full-wave rectifier is chosen for the project due to its simplicity and efficiency in converting the
AC signal. The full-wave rectifier is consisted of four diodes. Since the power received by the
receiver will be relatively low and the signal frequency is high, the diodes are required to have a
very low turn on voltage and operating frequency at 900 MHz. For this reason, a Schottky diode
could be chosen for the design.

At the output of the rectifier, the signal is not a fully DC signal yet. Thus, by adding a capacitor
and a resistor can smooth out the output to become DC signal. However, the time constant
produced by the capacitor and the resistor should be calculated carefully to fit the desired time
constant.
3.4 Transmitter Circuit

3.4.1 Introduction

The transmitter module of my project is made up of a D.C. power source, an oscillator circuit
(Commonly known as an inverter) and a transmitter coil. The D.C. power source provides a
constant D.C. voltage to the input of the oscillator circuit. There, this D.C. power is converted to
a high frequency A.C. power and is supplied to the transmitter coil. The transmitter coil, energized
by the high frequency A.C. current, produces an alternating magnetic field.

3.4.2 The DC power source

The D.C. Power Source consists of a simple step down transformer and a rectifier circuit. The
transformer steps down the voltage to a desired level and the rectifier circuit convert the A.C.
voltage to D.C.

3.4.3 The Oscillator Circuit

The prototype oscillator Circuit designed for the project is a modified Royer oscillator. This
oscillator circuit is incredibly simple yet a very powerful design. Very high oscillating current can
be achieved with this circuit depending on the semiconductor used. Here high current is necessary
to increase the strength of the magnetic field. Although Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBT)
is recommended for this type of oscillator, but IGBTs have limitations in high frequencies. Thus,
a HEXFET Power MOSFET was used for its properties. The HEXFET is ultra-low on resistance
and has an operating temperature of 175C. It has an advanced process technology and is very fast
in switching.
3.4.4 Operation of the Oscillator Circuit

The circuit consists of with two chokes labeled L1 and L2, two semiconductors (Here N-channel
Enhancement power-MOSFETS) labeled Q1 and Q2, a resonating capacitor labeled C and an
inductor (here the transmitter coil) labeled L. Cross-coupled feedback is provided via the diodes
D1 and D2. R1, R3 and R2, R4 are the biasing network for MOSFETS Q1 and Q2.

When power is applied, DC current flows through the two sides of the coil and to the transistors
drain. At the same time the voltage appears on both gates and starts to turn the transistors on. One
transistor is invariably a little faster than the other and will turn on more. The added current flowing
in that side of the coil does two things. One, it takes away drive from the other transistor. Two, the
auto-transformer action impresses a positive voltage on the conducting transistor, turning it hard
on. The current would continue to increase until the coil (transformer) saturates. The resonating
capacitor C causes the voltage across the primary to first rise and then fall in a standard sine wave
pattern.

Assuming that Q1 turned on first, the voltage at the drain of Q1s will be clamped to near ground
while the voltage at Q2s drain rises to a peak and then falls as the tank formed by the capacitor
and the coil primary oscillator through one half cycle.

The oscillator runs at the frequency determined by the inductance of the coil, the capacitor value
and to a lesser extent, the load applied to the secondary (Source coil).
3.4.5 The Transmitter Circuit as a Whole

The transmitter module as a whole is given below:

The circuit diagram of the transmitter circuit is given below:

3.5 Coils

3.5.1 Introduction

The transmitter and receiver coils are the heart of the wireless power transfer system. This is where
the transmission of electricity actually happens. It can be seen in many journals previously
researched on wireless energy transmission that there were many types of coils that were being
tested. [12] A huge ratio of the efficiency of the system is dependent of the power transmission of
the system in this case the coils of the system. This is because the coils are the components which
will be transmitting and receiving the wireless power in the form of magnetic flux. Thus this
generally proves that the coils are the core components in transmitting power form one point to
another.

The material and the size of the conductor for the construction of the coil must be taken into
account as the resistivity, heating capability, inductance, and current flow limitation varies with
different type of conductors.

3.5.2 Designs

There are several properties which are concern in coil designs. First is the number of turns of the
wire in the coil. Increasing number of turns will create a larger magnetic field, but also contribute
to high internal resistance and more power will be lost as heat. [12] The principle used in selecting
number of turns is by fix a particular number of turns of transmitter coil, then set a higher number
of turns at receiver coil so that current will be induced as much as possible. Thus, 2x9 turns is set
to the transmitter coil and 36 turns is set to the receiver coil. Second properties are the diameter of
the coils which is constraints by physical limitations and efficiency concerns. A coil with larger
diameter is easier to align but in the same time increase the coil circumference thus increase the
coil resistance. The diameter is set to 9 cm for both transmitter and receiver coils which will give
circumference of 28.3 cm and area of 63.6 cm2.
Third properties are the shape of the coil. A circular shape of the coil will creates a uniform and
symmetrical magnetic field. This is important to maximize the inductive coupling between the
transmitter and receiver coils. Besides that, a circular shape of the coils is easier to align the field.
Fourth properties are the material of wire. Copper has the highest electrical conductivity rating.
[13] Based on American Wire Gauge (AWG), the lower AWG rating of a wire, diameter of wire
is larger, hence more current fusing. [14] A thinner wire gauge will create a smaller size of coil,
but will increase resistance per unit length. However this can be reduced by winding up the wire
as tight as possible. After taking all optimal consideration in designing both transmitter coil and
receiver coil, a specification consists of number of turns of coil, diameter of coil, shape, and
material is established. Table 3.3 shows the summary of coils specifications. Figure 3.6 shows the
transmitter coil and receiver coil.
3.6 Receiver Circuit

3.6.1 Introduction

The receiver module of our project is made up of a receiver coil, a rectifier circuit and a voltage
regulator IC. An A.C. voltage is induced in the receiver coil. The rectifier circuit converts it to
D.C. and the voltage regulator IC helps to maintain a constant limited voltage at the load. The
following block diagram (Figure 6.5) gives a general idea of the receiver module:

3.6.2 Rectifier

A rectifier is an electrical device that converts alternating current (AC), which periodically
reverses direction, to direct current (DC), which flows in only one direction. The process is known
as rectification. Physically, rectifiers take a number of forms, including vacuum tubediodes,
mercury-arc valves, solid-state diodes, silicon-controlled rectifiers and other silicon-based
semiconductor switches. A diode bridge is an arrangement of four (or more) diodes in a bridge
circuit configuration that provides the same polarity of output for either polarity of input. When
used in its most common application, for conversion of an alternating current (AC) input into direct
current a (DC) output, it is known as a bridge rectifier. A bridge rectifier provides full-wave
rectification from a two-wire AC input, resulting in lower cost and weight as compared to a
rectifier with a 3-wire input from a transformer with a center-tapped secondary winding. The
essential feature of a diode bridge is that the polarity of the output is the same regardless of the
polarity at the input. The diode bridge circuit is also known as the Graetz circuit after its inventor,
physicist Leo Graetz.

3.6.3 Operation of a Diode Bridge Rectifier and filter

During the positive half cycle of the supply, diodes D1 and D2 conduct in series while diodes D3
and D4 are reverse biased and the current flows through the load as shown in Figure 6.7.

During the negative half cycle of the supply, diodes D3 and D4 conduct in series, but diodes D1
and D2 switch off, as they are reverse biased. The current flowing through the load is the same
direction as before (Figure 6.8).
In order to produce constant DC voltage from the rectifier, a filter or smoothing circuit is needed.
The most suitable type of filter is a reservoir capacitor or smoothing capacitor connected across
the output of the bridge circuit. Besides that, smoothing capacitor also serves to increase the
average DC output level of the rectifier. [16]

Generally there are two important factors in considering suitable smoothing capacitor. First is the
working voltage of the smoothing capacitor. The voltage must be greater than the output value of
the rectifier at no-load. Second is the capacitance value of the smoothing capacitor. This will
determine the value of ripple voltage. Based on the general rule of thumb, a ripple voltage of less
than 100mV peak to peak is tolerable. [16]

However, sizing of a smoothing capacitor represent bargain. A larger value of capacitance will
reduce more ripples, but the price will be higher. Hence, the smoothing capacitor is chosen to be
an aluminum electrolytic capacitor with value of 1000uF and working voltage of 35V.
3.6.4 Voltage Regulator

The output of the rectifier and smoothing filter will be fluctuates depending on its input varying
voltage. Hence, a voltage regulator is used produce a constant desired output of 5V (DC) regardless
of changes in input voltage or load conditions. The basic parameters that need to be considered in
determining a voltage regulator IC are the input voltage, output voltage, and output current. [17]

A voltage regulator is an electrical regulator designed to automatically maintain a constant voltage

level. A voltage regulator may be a simple feed-forward design or may include negative feedback
control loops. It may use an electromechanical mechanism, or electronic components. Depending
on the design, it may be used to regulate one or more AC or DC voltages. In this project, LM 7805
voltage regulator IC was used since it allowed no more than 5v to the output.

3.6.5 Output Indicator

Two LED is connected to the receiver circuit as an output indicator to indicate power supply
availability. A yellow and a red LED is used to indicate the 12V and 5V supply respectively.
However, LED needs to be connected in series with resistor to prevent short circuit. By referring
to the rating and parameters of the LED, the value of the resistor can be calculated based on Ohms
law. [18] First parameter is the maximum forward current. It is the maximum current value that
can flow through the LED without damaging it. Second parameter is the forward voltage drop.
These two parameters are important in determining the correct value of the resistor to use. Based
on Ohms law, values of the resistances can be calculated as in Equation 3.2.

Hence, a 1k resistor is connected in series with a yellow LED to indicate 12V supply availability
and a 330 resistor is connected in series with a red LED to indicate 5V supply availability.

3.7 Loads

3.7.1 Introduction

The output of the receiver circuit will be fed into the desired DC loads. Since the receiver circuit
gives 5V output, mobile devices can be connected. The 5V output is used to charge a mobile
device.
3.7.2 Mobile device

Any mobile devices rated at 5V 1A can be connected to the 5V output from the receiver circuit.
Since the 5V output is regulated by the voltage regulator to produce a constant voltage, without
any voltage fluctuations, hence it is safe and suitable to be use to power or charge any mobile
devices.