Multioutput Wireless Charger for Drone Swarms With Reduced Switch Requirements and Independent Regulation Capability
Xiaoqiang Wang, Minrui Leng, Xin Zhang, Qingxin Tian, Xiang Zhou, Bin Guo, Hao Ma
Abstract
This article develops a cost-effective and efficient wireless charger with multiple outputs based on the newly proposed H3-bridge inverter, which has the benefits of reduced switch requirements and independent regulation capability. The output power of each channel is regulated by asymmetric duty cycle control. With the help of the auxiliary <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">LC</i> branch, soft switching is ensured in spite of load variations. The sequential logic of driver signals is analyzed in detail to explore independent regulation characteristics. For arbitrary 2 <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">n</i> (or 2 <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">n</i> +1) outputs, the total number of required switches is only 3 <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">n</i> (or 3 <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">n</i> +2), and the voltage stress of switches is the input voltage, which can reduce switch requirements. Simulation and experimental results are in good agreement with each other, proving that the proposed wireless charger is a feasible solution for drone swarms.