Powermat Technologies has revealed its wireless charging solution designed to charge and optimise charging efficiency for fleets of various types of service robots, including photovoltaic-powered robots, used for commercial cleaning, delivery, warehouse and medical operations.
The wireless power solutions provider said one of the biggest challenges of utilising autonomous service robots is that charging requires a direct connection with a charging station using pins or conductive charging.
Despite most Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) advanced autonomous capabilities, robots with self-charging capabilities still have trouble docking properly so don’t charge as expected, the company said. This can harm operational efficiency and result in additional expenses for human intervention and maintenance.
Powermat’s new wireless charging platform for AMRs and other commercial robots has been designed to eliminate the need for direct contact with pogo-pins entirely, providing operators with 90% charging efficiency, while enabling flexible charging capabilities. Robots can charge in proximity to the charging station without the need for accurate alignment or direct contact.
The wireless charger supports power transfer over a distance of up to 150mm between receiver and transmitter and can integrate with both existing robots and future products in development.
Powermat’s turnkey reference design for SmartInductive based wireless charging and battery management tailored for robotics also provides connectivity features that combine power and in-band data transfer. This enables communication between each robot in the fleet and at docking stations, which is required for identification and authentication and software upgrades.
Powermat’s solution for AMRs also features a software-based interface to enable analytics, fleet management, and other AI-powered data capabilities.
“For organisations to get the most return on their investment in autonomous solutions, service robots should always be able to complete their task autonomously and recharge quickly without human intervention. That’s where Powermat comes in,” said Elad Dubzinski, CEO at Powermat.
“By enabling flexible and efficient wireless charging for commercial robotics, Powermat’s platform essentially offers the last missing piece of the puzzle to enable full robot autonomy. This innovation will help accelerate the global adoption of robots and AMRs, which provide efficiency, safety and cost-saving benefits across industries.”
