Abstract
It is suggested that capacitive power transfer (CPT) technologies can be used to recharge electric maritime vehicles' batteries. This work presents a configuration of the Underwater Unmanned Vehicle (UUV)-CPT system. The modelling of the systems' equivalent electrical circuit is discussed and the theoretical analysis of the External Watery Medium (EWM) on the Equivalent Circuit Parameters (ECPs) is conducted. To observe the effects of the EWM over the system, 3-D Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is performed on both cases with and without EWM. Using the Particle Optimization Algorithm (PSO), the calculations for the new ECPs of circular electric couplers are specified and the implications of EWM are carried out. The accuracy of the proposed parameter specification approach is examined and verified through experimental setup. The system-level impacts of EWM on the performance of the capacitive power transfer system are analyzed.