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CHAPTER 2

PROBLEM FORMULATION AND SOLUTION

2.1 INTRODUCTION
It is often said ‘necessity is the best teacher’ and can be applied in this case as well.
Only in this century, has the need for wireless electricity emerged so rapidly,
spearheaded by the agony caused by the cumbersome charging of endless devices. Earlier
people didn’t need it, so they didn't think about it.
We know of three possibilities to design a device that transfer power wirelessly,
There are the use of antennas, inductive coupling, and laser power transfer. In addition, we
had to be aware of how antennas and inductive coupling would be affected by the frequency
we select.

2.2 METHODS OF TRANSFERRING POWER WIRELESSLY

Antenna: Antennas are the traditional means of signal transmission and would likely
work. In initial research, it appears that system utilizing antennas can receive power gains
based upon the shape and design of the antenna. This would allow more power actually being
sent and received while also have a small input power. The difficulty comes in the trade off
of antenna size versus frequency. In attempting to stay in a lower frequency, one would be
require using antennas of very large size.

Inductive Coupling: Inductive coupling does not have the need for large structures
transfer power signals. Rather, inductive coupling makes use of inductive coils to transfer the
power signals. Due to the use of coils rather than the antenna, the size of the actual
transmitter and receiver can be made to fit the situation better. The tradeoff is for the benefit
of custom size, there will be a poor gain on the solenoid transmitter and receiver.
Laser Power Transmission: The concept of laser power transmission is addressed in
the research of NASA and NASDA solar programs. Lasers would allow for a very
concentrated stream of power to be transferred from one point to another. Based upon
available research material, it appears that this solution would be more practical for space to
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upper atmosphere or terrestrial power transmission. This option would not be valid to
accomplish our tasks because light wavelengths are higher than the specified allowable
operational frequencies.
2.3 OPERATING FREQUENCY
Very High and Greater Frequency Ranges: High frequency transmissions are
common in several devices including cell phones and other wireless communications. Higher
frequencies can be made to transmit in very specific directions. In addition, these antennas
can be rather small. This set of frequency ranges includes microwave frequency bands. Very
High Frequencies to Extremely High frequencies are described as being in the range of 30
MHz to 300 GHz and Microwave frequencies are described as being the range of 3 GHz to
300 GHz. The safety issues of using the high end of the spectrum are not completely known.
There is currently research looking into the safety of microwave and higher frequencies.
However, many of the devices in this frequency range are not permissible due to the
frequency limitations placed on our research.
Very Low to Extremely Low Frequency Ranges: Antennas of these frequencies
would need to be of sizes that are very impractical to build and would be better suited for
power transmission over wire. Several of these frequencies are specifically used for
submarine communication transmission[4]. Extremely low frequencies and possibly other
frequencies in the band up to 3 KHz have the uncertain risk of being potentially hazardous
the humans and the environment. There is still ongoing research on the dangers on very low
to extremely low range frequencies.
Low, Medium, and High Frequency Ranges: Radio Frequencies in these bands seem
to have few hazardous concerns given by the FCC. In addition, these frequencies are
commonly used as the primary frequency bands of radio transmission. The high frequency
band is typically used in short range communications due to the ease of the reflection of these
waves off the ionosphere. This range is described as being from 3 MHz to 30 MHz. In
addition, this frequency range includes two experimental frequency bands. The major
disadvantage of working in this frequency range is the inability to properly test in the design
phase due to effects parasitic capacitance in breadboards. Medium Frequency includes the
AM broadcast band. Medium frequencies are described as being from 300 KHz to 3 MHz.
This band includes one band used for testing purposes. The Low frequency band is primarily
used for aircraft, navigation, information and weather systems. In addition, this frequency
includes a band commonly used for testing purposes. The low frequency band is described as
being from 30 KHz to 300 KHz.
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2.4 DESIGN CHOICE

After reviewing the possible solutions, inductive coupling was chosen as the best
alternative. Our team believes that inductive coupling based system will meet most of the
design criteria in the designated time given to us. We also felt that our background and
knowledge of electromagnetic fields and transformer theory would help us resolve any
problems encountered during the design process. Inductive coupling also offers several
advantages over other options that are as follows:
Simple Design: The design is very simple in theory as well as the physical
implementation. The circuits built are not complex and the component count is very low too.

Lower Frequency Operation: The operating frequency range is in the kilohertz range.
This attribute makes it easy to experiment and test in breadboard. Furthermore there is low
risk of radiation in the LF band.

Low Cost: The entire system is designed with discrete components that are readily
available. No special parts or custom order parts were necessary for the design. Thus we were
able to keep the cost of the entire system very low.

Practical for Short Distance: The designed system is very practical for short distance
as long as the coupling coefficient is optimumized. The design also offers the flexibility of
making the receiver much smaller for practical applications.