Master of Science

thesisThis thesis discusses the design, modeling, and experimental validation of an inductively coupled wireless power transfer (WPT) system to power a micro aerial vehicle (MAV) without an onboard power source. MAVs are limited in utility by flight times ranging from 5 to 30 minutes. Using WPT for MAVs, in general, extends flight time and can eliminate the need for batteries. In this paper, a resonant inductive power transfer system (RIPT), consisting of a transmit (Tx) coil on a fixed surface and a receive (Rx) coil attached to the MAV, is presented, and a circuit is described. The RIPT system design is modeled to determine a suitable geometry for the coils, and the model validated experimentally. It is found that for the MAV used in this work, a suitable geometry of coils is a 19cm diameter planar spiral Tx coil made with 14 AWG copper wire, seven turns, and 5cm pitch paired with an Rx coil made of 16-20AWG wire, 13cm-20cm diameter, 1mm pitch, and one to two turns. A demonstration of an MAV being powered 11cm above the Tx coil with the WPT system in a laboratory setting is presented. The MAV consumes approximately 12 Watts. The overall power efficiency of the RIPT system from RF power source output to MAV motors is approximately 32%