Underwater Wireless Power Transfer for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
Relay-coil-enhanced spatial wireless power transfer for long-endurance autonomous underwater vehicle charging.
Overview
This research project investigates a relay-coil-enhanced spatial wireless power transfer (WPT) system for charging autonomous underwater vehicles. The goal is to improve energy autonomy while reducing the alignment constraints of conventional underwater charging systems.
My contributions
- Modeled the system’s equivalent circuit and analyzed power-transfer efficiency under different loads and operating frequencies.
- Studied coil configurations and relay-coil placement for spatial underwater power transfer.
- Developed mechanical integration concepts with attention to hydrodynamic efficiency and practical AUV charging.
- Explored communication improvements between the underwater transmitter and receiver.
Outcome
This work was completed during the 2026 NTU Global Connect Fellowship at the Water & Energy Research Lab and received the Most Popular Poster Award at the final research presentation.