Contactless power supply for moving sensors and actuators in high-precision mechatronic systems with long-stroke power transfer capability in x–y plane

In this paper, a new topology for contactless energy transfer is proposed and tested that can transfer energy to a moving load using inductive coupling. This contactless energy transfer topology is designed to supply power to the moving parts in high-precision mechatronic systems without cable slabs. The proposed topology provides long-stroke contactless energy transfer capability in the x–y plane and a short-stroke movement of a few millimeters perpendicular to the plane. In addition, it is tolerant to rotations. The electrical steady-state, electrical transient, combined electrical and mechanical transient and forces of the contactless energy transfer system are modeled.The experimental setup consists of a platform with one secondary coil, which is attached to a linear actuator. Underneath the platform is an array of primary coils, that are each connected to a half-bridge square wave power supply. The load on the secondary side is a rectifier with a 50 Ω resistor. The energy transfer to the load is measured while the secondary coil is moved over the array of primary coils by the linear actuator. The secondary coil moves with a stroke of 18 cm at speeds over 1 m/s, while up to 265 W of power is transferred continuously with 90% efficiency. The proposed system is very suitable for transferring energy without cable slab to planar actuators and to conventional linear (short- and long-stroke) actuators in high-precision motion systems, such as lithography, die-bonding and component placement machines.