Methods and apparatus for positioning a vehicle using foreign object detection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10461587-B2
Application number	US-201615269749-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 19, 2016
Priority date	Sep 19, 2016
Publication date	Oct 29, 2019
Grant date	Oct 29, 2019

Abstract

In one aspect, an apparatus for determining alignment information of a vehicle is disclosed, the vehicle comprising an antenna circuit configured to modulate one or more electrical characteristics of the antenna circuit. The apparatus comprises multiple sensor circuits configured to generate multiple magnetic fields. At least one sensor circuit may be configured to sense the modulated electrical characteristic of the antenna circuit when the antenna circuit couples to the at least one sensor circuit via one of the magnetic fields. The apparatus may further comprise a controller circuit configured to determine alignment information of the vehicle based on the sensed modulated electrical characteristic.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for determining alignment information of a vehicle, the vehicle comprising an antenna circuit configured to modulate one or more electrical characteristics of the antenna circuit, the apparatus comprising:
a plurality of sensor circuits configured to generate a plurality of magnetic fields, at least one sensor circuit of the plurality of sensor circuits configured to sense the modulated electrical characteristic of the antenna circuit when the antenna circuit couples to the at least one sensor circuit via one of the plurality of magnetic fields; and
a controller circuit configured to determine alignment information of the vehicle based on the sensed modulated electrical characteristic.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor circuit senses the modulated electrical characteristic as a modulated or varied impedance of the antenna circuit.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each sensor circuit of the plurality of sensor circuits comprises a coil having one or more windings, the one or more windings driven with a current to generate one of the plurality of magnetic fields within a sense area above the at least one sensor circuit.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more electrical characteristics are modulated based on a distinct modulation pattern that uniquely identifies the antenna circuit, wherein the at least one sensor circuit is configured to sense the distinctive modulation pattern based on a distinct change of the disturbance in a magnetic field of the at least one sensor circuit in response to a degree of coupling to the antenna circuit.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least two or more sensor circuits of the plurality of sensor circuits are configured to sense the modulated electrical characteristic when the antenna circuit couples to the two or more sensor circuits, wherein the controller circuit is configured determine a position of the antenna circuit relative to the at least two sensor circuits based on a comparison of a magnitude of the sensed modulated electrical characteristic at each of the two or more sensor circuits.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the modulated electrical characteristic uniquely identifies the vehicle, wherein the controller circuit is configured to retrieve a position of the antenna circuit on the vehicle and a position of a power receiving circuit on the vehicle based on uniquely identifying the vehicle via the sensed modulate electrical characteristic and determine a position of the antenna circuit relative to the power receiving circuit of the vehicle.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a power transmitting circuit positioned relative to at least two sensor circuits, wherein the controller circuit is configured to convert a position of the antenna circuit relative to the at least two sensor circuits to a position of the power receiving circuit relative to the power transmitting circuit based on the position of the antenna circuit relative to the power receiving circuit and a position of the power transmitting circuit relative to the at least two sensor circuits.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller circuit is configured to determine alignment information for aligning a power receiving circuit with a power transmitting circuit based on a position of the power receiving circuit relative to the power transmitting circuit.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller circuit is configured to communicate the alignment information to a user of the vehicle for aligning a power receiving circuit on the vehicle with a power transmitting circuit positioned relative to the sensor circuits.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of sensor circuits are further configured to detect an object other than the antenna circuit of the vehicle.

11. A method for determining alignment information of a vehicle, the vehicle comprising an antenna circuit configured to modulate one or more electrical characteristics of the antenna circuit, the method comprising:
generating, by a plurality of sensor circuits, a plurality of magnetic fields;
sensing, by at least one sensor circuit of the plurality of sensor circuits, the modulated electrical characteristic of the antenna circuit when the antenna circuit couples to the at least one sensor circuit via one of the plurality of magnetic fields; and
determining alignment information of the vehicle based on the sensed modulated electrical characteristic.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein sensing the modulated electrical characteristic comprises sensing a modulated or varied impedance of the antenna circuit.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein generating a plurality of magnetic fields comprises driving one or more windings of the plurality of sensor circuits with a current to generate one of the plurality of magnetic fields within a sense area above the at least one sensor circuit.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
sensing a distinctive modulation pattern based on a distinct change of the disturbance in a magnetic field of the at least one sensor circuit in response to a degree of coupling to the antenna circuit, wherein the electrical characteristic is modulated based on the distinct modulation pattern; and
uniquely identifying the antenna circuit based on the sensed distinct modulation pattern.

15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
sensing the modulated electrical characteristic by at least two or more sensor circuits of the plurality of sensor circuits when the antenna circuit couples to the two or more sensor circuits; and
determining a position of the antenna circuit relative to the at least two sensor circuits based on a comparison of a magnitude of the sensed modulated electrical characteristic at each of the two or more sensor circuits.

16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
uniquely identifying the vehicle based on the sensed modulated electrical characteristic;
retrieving a position of the antenna circuit on the vehicle and a position of a power receiving circuit on the vehicle based on uniquely identifying the vehicle; and
determining a position of the antenna circuit relative to the power receiving circuit of the vehicle.

17. The method of claim 11 , further comprising converting a position of the antenna circuit relative to the at least two sensor circuits to a position of the power receiving circuit relative to a power transmitting circuit based on a position of the antenna circuit relative to the power receiving circuit and a position of the power transmitting circuit relative to the at least two sensor circuits.

18. The method of claim 11 , further comprising determining alignment information for aligning a power receiving circuit with a power transmitting circuit based on a position of the power receiving circuit relative to the power transmitting circuit.

19. The method of claim 11 , further comprising detecting an object other than the antenna circuit of the vehicle by the plurality of sensor circuits.

20. An apparatus for determining alignment information of a vehicle, the vehicle comprising an antenna circuit configured to modulate one or more electrical characteristics of the antenna circuit, the apparatus comprising:
means for generating a plurality of magnetic fields;
means for sensing the modulated electrical characteristic of the antenna circuit when the antenna circuit couples to the means for generating via one of the plurality of magnetic fields; and
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Assignees

• Witricity Corp

Inventors

• Sieber Lukas

Classifications

• B60L53/124

  Detection or removal of foreign bodies · CPC title

• B60L53/126

  Methods for pairing a vehicle and a charging station, e.g. establishing a one-to-one relation between a wireless power transmitter and a wireless power receiver · CPC title

• B60L53/122

  Circuits or methods for driving the primary coil, e.g. supplying electric power to the coil · CPC title

• B60L50/60

  using power supplied by batteries (in combination with fuel cells B60L50/75) · CPC title

• H02J50/90 Primary

  involving detection or optimisation of position, e.g. alignment · CPC title