Wirelessly transferring power within an electric machine with actively rectified rotor windings

A method of controlling a motor, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a rotor, a power transfer signal wirelessly from a stator, the stator including stator windings configured to be energized to define stator poles and the rotor including rotor windings configured to be energized to define rotor poles that interact with the stator poles to produce relative force between the rotor and the stator;
• capturing, by an active rectifier rotationally fixed to the rotor, electrical energy from the power transfer signal, wherein the active rectifier is conductively coupled to one or more first rotor windings of the rotor windings;
• controlling, by the active rectifier, current flow through the one or more first rotor windings by directing the electrical energy captured from the power transfer signal to the one or more first rotor windings;
• and
• receiving, by the rotor, a data signal wirelessly from the stator windings, the data signal encoding control information for the active rectifier, and a frequency of the data signal is independent of a frequency of a torque control signal sent to the stator windings to produce the relative force.

An electric machine comprising:

• a stator including stator windings configured to be energized to define stator poles;
• a rotor including rotor windings configured to be energized to define rotor poles that interact with the stator poles to produce relative force between the rotor and the stator, the rotor configured to be magnetically coupled to the stator to receive a power transfer signal wirelessly from the stator, wherein each rotor winding associated with one of the rotor poles is conductively coupled to a singular corresponding active rectifier;
• and
• an active rectifier rotationally fixed to the rotor and conductively coupled to one or more first rotor windings of the rotor windings, the active rectifier being configured to:
• capture electrical energy from the power transfer signal, and
• control current flow through the one or more first rotor windings by directing the electrical energy captured from the power transfer signal to the one or more first rotor windings.

An electric machine comprising:

• a stator including stator windings configured to be energized to define stator poles;
• a rotor including rotor windings configured to be energized to define rotor poles that interact with the stator poles to produce relative force between the rotor and the stator, the rotor configured to be magnetically coupled to the stator to receive a power transfer signal wirelessly from the stator;
• an active rectifier rotationally fixed to the rotor and conductively coupled to one or more first rotor windings of the rotor windings, the active rectifier being configured to:
• capture electrical energy from the power transfer signal, and
• control current flow through the one or more first rotor windings by directing the electrical energy captured from the power transfer signal to the one or more first rotor windings;
• and
• a rotor control unit configured to:
• extract, from the power transfer signal received wirelessly from the stator, a data signal indicative of an operating setpoint for the rotor;
• and
• control switching operations of the active rectifier responsive to the operating setpoint.

An electric machine comprising:

• a stator including stator windings configured to be energized to define stator poles;
• a rotor including rotor windings configured to be energized to define rotor poles that interact with the stator poles to produce relative force between the rotor and the stator, the rotor configured to be magnetically coupled to the stator to receive a power transfer signal wirelessly from the stator;
• an active rectifier rotationally fixed to the rotor and conductively coupled to one or more first rotor windings of the rotor windings, the active rectifier being configured to:
• capture electrical energy from the power transfer signal, and
• control current flow through the one or more first rotor windings by directing the electrical energy captured from the power transfer signal to the one or more first rotor windings;
• and
• a rotor control unit configured to:
• estimate, based on the power transfer signal received wirelessly from the stator, an operating state of the stator;
• and
• control switching operations of the active rectifier responsive to the estimated operating state.

An electric machine comprising:

• a stator including stator windings configured to be energized to define stator poles;
• a rotor including rotor windings configured to be energized to define rotor poles that interact with the stator poles to produce relative force between the rotor and the stator, the rotor configured to be magnetically coupled to the stator to receive a power transfer signal wirelessly from the stator;
• an active rectifier rotationally fixed to the rotor and conductively coupled to one or more first rotor windings of the rotor windings, the active rectifier being configured to:
• capture electrical energy from the power transfer signal, and
• control current flow through the one or more first rotor windings by directing the electrical energy captured from the power transfer signal to the one or more first rotor windings;
• and
• a low-pass filter conductively coupled to the active rectifier and to the one or more first rotor windings.

An electric machine comprising:

• a stator including stator windings configured to be energized to define stator poles;
• a rotor including rotor windings configured to be energized to define rotor poles that interact with the stator poles to produce relative force between the rotor and the stator, the rotor configured to be magnetically coupled to the stator to receive a power transfer signal wirelessly from the stator;
• and
• an active rectifier rotationally fixed to the rotor and conductively coupled to one or more first rotor windings of the rotor windings, the active rectifier being configured to:
• capture electrical energy from the power transfer signal, and
• control current flow through the one or more first rotor windings by directing the electrical energy captured from the power transfer signal to the one or more first rotor windings,
• wherein the active rectifier is configured to produce a substantially DC current in a first subset of the rotor windings and a substantially oscillating current in a second, different subset of the rotor windings.

A method of controlling a motor, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a rotor, a power transfer signal wirelessly from a stator, the stator including stator windings configured to be energized to define stator poles and the rotor including rotor windings configured to be energized to define rotor poles that interact with the stator poles to produce relative force between the rotor and the stator;
• capturing, by an active rectifier rotationally fixed to the rotor, electrical energy from the power transfer signal, wherein the active rectifier is conductively coupled to one or more first rotor windings of the rotor windings;
• controlling, by the active rectifier, current flow through the one or more first rotor windings by directing the electrical energy captured from the power transfer signal to the one or more first rotor windings;
• extracting, by a rotor control unit of the rotor, a data signal indicative of an operating setpoint for the rotor from the power transfer signal received wirelessly from the stator;
• and
• controlling, by the rotor control unit, switching operations of the active rectifier responsive to the operating setpoint.

A method of controlling a motor, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a rotor, a power transfer signal wirelessly from a stator, the stator including stator windings configured to be energized to define stator poles and the rotor including rotor windings configured to be energized to define rotor poles that interact with the stator poles to produce relative force between the rotor and the stator;
• capturing, by an active rectifier rotationally fixed to the rotor, electrical energy from the power transfer signal, wherein the active rectifier is conductively coupled to one or more first rotor windings of the rotor windings;
• controlling, by the active rectifier, current flow through the one or more first rotor windings by directing the electrical energy captured from the power transfer signal to the one or more first rotor windings;
• and
• filtering signals, by a low-pass filter, between the active rectifier and the one or more first rotor windings, where the low-pass filter is conductively coupled to the active rectifier and to the one or more first rotor windings.

A method of controlling a motor, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a rotor, a power transfer signal wirelessly from a stator, the stator including stator windings configured to be energized to define stator poles and the rotor including rotor windings configured to be energized to define rotor poles that interact with the stator poles to produce relative force between the rotor and the stator;
• capturing, by an active rectifier rotationally fixed to the rotor, electrical energy from the power transfer signal, wherein the active rectifier is conductively coupled to one or more first rotor windings of the rotor windings;
• controlling, by the active rectifier, current flow through the one or more first rotor windings by directing the electrical energy captured from the power transfer signal to the one or more first rotor windings;
• and
• introducing, by the active rectifier, a zero-sequence into a periodic voltage induced in the one or more first rotor windings by the stator windings.

A method of controlling a motor, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a rotor, a power transfer signal wirelessly from a stator, the stator including stator windings configured to be energized to define stator poles and the rotor including rotor windings configured to be energized to define rotor poles that interact with the stator poles to produce relative force between the rotor and the stator;
• capturing, by an active rectifier rotationally fixed to the rotor, electrical energy from the power transfer signal, wherein the active rectifier is conductively coupled to one or more first rotor windings of the rotor windings;
• controlling, by the active rectifier, current flow through the one or more first rotor windings by directing the electrical energy captured from the power transfer signal to the one or more first rotor windings;
• and
• causing, by the active rectifier, in the one or more first rotor windings, a periodic voltage shifted about 90 degrees compared to a corresponding periodic voltage in the stator windings.

A method of controlling a motor, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a rotor, a power transfer signal wirelessly from a stator, the stator including stator windings configured to be energized to define stator poles and the rotor including rotor windings configured to be energized to define rotor poles that interact with the stator poles to produce relative force between the rotor and the stator;
• capturing, by an active rectifier rotationally fixed to the rotor, electrical energy from the power transfer signal, wherein the active rectifier is conductively coupled to one or more first rotor windings of the rotor windings;
• and
• controlling, by the active rectifier, current flow through the one or more first rotor windings by directing the electrical energy captured from the power transfer signal to the one or more first rotor windings,
• wherein the power transfer signal is received wirelessly by the rotor along a controllable axis on which the stator and rotor are magnetically coupled based on modulated amplitudes of magnetic fields of the stator, modulated frequencies of magnetic fields of the stator, or both.

A method of controlling a motor, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a rotor, a power transfer signal wirelessly from a stator, the stator including stator windings configured to be energized to define stator poles and the rotor including rotor windings configured to be energized to define rotor poles that interact with the stator poles to produce relative force between the rotor and the stator;
• capturing, by an active rectifier rotationally fixed to the rotor, electrical energy from the power transfer signal, wherein the active rectifier is conductively coupled to one or more first rotor windings of the rotor windings;
• controlling, by the active rectifier, current flow through the one or more first rotor windings by directing the electrical energy captured from the power transfer signal to the one or more first rotor windings;
• and
• producing, by the active rectifier, a substantially DC current in a first subset of the rotor windings and a substantially oscillating current in a second, different subset of the rotor windings.

A method of controlling a motor, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a rotor, a power transfer signal wirelessly from a stator, the stator including stator windings configured to be energized to define stator poles and the rotor including rotor windings configured to be energized to define rotor poles that interact with the stator poles to produce relative force between the rotor and the stator;
• capturing, by an active rectifier rotationally fixed to the rotor, electrical energy from the power transfer signal, wherein the active rectifier is conductively coupled to one or more first rotor windings of the rotor windings;
• and
• controlling, by the active rectifier, current flow through the one or more first rotor windings by directing the electrical energy captured from the power transfer signal to the one or more first rotor windings,
• wherein the active rectifier is controlled to apply low-pass filtering to voltages in the one or more first rotor windings.