Characterization of contactless power transfer system and investigation of core shape for AGV application

In recent years, the introduction of contactless power transfer (CPT) system is required to automated guided vehicle (AGV) used in a factory. This paper deals with development of prototype contactless power transfer system for applying to AGV using both experiment and simulation. It is found that the developed prototype contactless power transfer system allows 1 kW power transfer in more than 68% of power transfer efficiency at 20 mm gap. Furthermore, an attempt is made to optimize the CPT by changing the core shape of the coils. As a result, combination of T-T shape cores made of ferrite core allows transmission of more power than T-E combination cores. These results suggest that the T-T shape cores contribute to further miniaturization of CPT system and larger capacity than previous CPT system using T-E combination cores.