At 07:20 PM 10/23/00 -0400, John Mullan wrote:
>Don,
>
>I'm not sure if this is the kind of info you can supply.......
>
>In the hobby robot I am working on, I would like to incorporate an
>inductively coupled charger that it can park itself near when it needs a
>boost.  Do you have any info for this?

There's nothing really special about this. It's just a loosely coupled
transformer. Of course it's inefficient as hell, but wall power is cheap(ish).

Higher frequencies are better, 100kHz should be convenient.

There are a few things you can do, like sensing a load, and only applying
the power when there's someone there to catch it.

Build a prototype and try!

I did one, years ago, as a charger for an underwater metal detector. The
whole thing had nothing to break the seal, and no exposed metal contacts.
Reed switches and a magnetic "wand" allowed you to adjust everything.

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