DEMONSTRATION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC FORMATION FLIGHT AND WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER WITH RINGS: THE RESONANT INDUCTIVE NEAR-FIELD GENERATION SYSTEM

摘要

Electromagnetic Formation Flight (EMFF) and Resonant Inductive Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) are two technologies that can potentially benefit long-duration spacecraft cluster flight with the added advantage of being implemented using largely the same hardware. This paper discusses the design and development of the Resonant Inductive Near-field Generation System (RINGS) as an integrated demonstration of these two technologies onboard the International Space Station (ISS). The hardware is being developed as a pay-load to be flown on the Synchronized Position Hold Engage and Re-orient Experimental Satellites (SPHERES) facility. The system level design rationale is presented, along with an overview of major subsystem design details and preliminary ground test results.