STTR Phase I: Self-resonant Structures for Long-Range High-Efficiency Wireless Power Transfer

此项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力包括扩大无线充电系统的覆盖范围、提高效率和缩小尺寸，这些系统将为消费设备(例如移动电话和平板电脑)、交通和医疗行业提供价值。在消费设备中，改进和广泛采用的无线电能传输可以通过消除充电端口来实现更坚固的设备设计，充电端口是设备故障的常见模式。广泛采用的无线充电可以提高消费者的便利性，并通过跨多个设备的统一充电解决方案消除对专用、设备专用充电器的需求。充电范围的扩大将增加所有三个行业的使用案例数量，从而为这项技术和整个无线电力传输带来更大的商业机会。在交通方面，高效的无线充电允许快速充电，可以适应不同的车辆高度，这使得电动汽车更加方便，提高了它们的普及率，并允许充电集成到基础设施中。效率的提高降低了所有三个行业与充电相关的能源成本。此外，该项目还将加强对多层自谐振结构的功率处理能力以及各种制造技术可实现的谐振频率的科学了解。该小型企业技术转移(STTR)第一阶段项目旨在解决将一种名为多层自谐振结构(MSRS)的新无线功率传输线圈技术推向市场的技术挑战。为了将MSR商业化，该技术必须超越概念验证，并与商业无线电力传输系统对接，特别是那些符合现有设备标准的系统。需要解决的技术障碍包括1)降低谐振频率以满足当前标准，2)了解功率处理限制，以及3)开发电子接口。这些挑战将分别通过以下方式克服：1)建立在其他行业用于处理薄层材料的现有制造技术的基础上，并对其进行调整，以开发可扩展的制造方法，以构建具有所需范围内的谐振频率的MSRS。2)对MSR的功率处理能力进行分析、测量和建模。最后，开发将MSR与商业系统连接所需的阻抗匹配电路。成功完成这些任务将产生低成本、高Q值的无线功率传输线圈，该线圈可以集成到商业系统中，以增加无线充电的能力范围、效率和功率处理能力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project includes increased range, increased efficiency, and decreased size of wireless charging systems, which will provide value to consumer devices (e.g., mobile phones and tablets), transportation, and medical industries. In consumer devices, improved and widely adopted wireless power transfer can lead to more rugged designs of the devices by eliminating charging ports, which are a common mode of device failure. Widely adopted wireless charging can improve convenience for consumers, and, with a unified charging solution across a number of devices, eliminate the need for dedicated, device-specific chargers. Increased charging range will increase the number of use cases in all three industries, leading to greater commercial opportunities for this this technology and wireless power transfer in general. In transportation, high-efficiency wireless charging allows for fast charging that is adaptable to varying vehicle heights, which makes electric vehicles more convenient, increases their rate of adoption, and allows charging that is integrated into infrastructure. Increased efficiency reduces the energy costs associated with charging across all three industries. Furthermore, this project will enhance the scientific understanding of the power handling capabilities of the multilayer self-resonant structure, and the resonant frequencies achievable with various manufacturing techniques.This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project addresses the technical challenges keeping a new wireless power transfer coil technology, called the multilayer self-resonant structure (MSRS), from the market. In order to commercialize the MSRS, the technology must advance beyond a proof-of-concept, and interface with commercial wireless power transfer systems, specifically those that adhere to existing device standards. The technical hurdles that need to be addressed include 1) reducing the resonant frequency to meet current standards, 2) understanding the power handling limits, and 3) developing electronic interfaces. These challenges will be overcome by, respectively, 1) building on existing manufacturing techniques used to handle thin layers of material in other industries and adapting them to develop a scalable manufacturing approach to construct MSRSs with resonant frequencies in the range needed. 2) Analyzing, measuring, and modeling the power handling capabilities of the MSRS. Finally, 3) Developing impedance matching circuitry required to interface the MSRS with commercial systems. Successful completion of these task will results in a low cost, high-Q wireless power transfer coil, which can be integrated into commercial systems to increase the capable range, efficiency, and power handling of wireless charging.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.