Improving the efficiency of electrodynamic wireless power transmission

Electrodynamic wireless power transmission delivers electrical power from a transmitter coil to a compact electromechanical receiver over a range of distances using low-amplitude, low-frequency magnetic fields. A previously reported prototype has demonstrated the feasibility of this technology, but suffered from low efficiency. In this paper, we investigate the efficiency of electrodynamic wireless power transfer using a lumped circuit model of the system. From this analysis, we show that the efficiency is constrained by the electrodynamic coupling strength. Furthermore, increasing the mechanical quality factor of the receiver can improve the overall power transfer efficiency of the system to a level where this technology becomes a viable option for power management systems.