Analysis of Magnetic Energy Harvester for Inspection Robot of Power Line Using Saturable Inductor

Abstract

Recently, magnetic energy harvesting is a promising technologies for self-sustainable operation of devices around power line. However, the magnetic energy harvester has a problem that magnetic core material is saturated at high current condition. In this paper, we analyzed the power harvesting by considering magnetic saturation in magnetic material. Using B-H curve, we analyzed magnetizing inductance according to varying primary current. This analysis makes it possible to predict harvested power in saturated condition, which the conventional method cannot predict. To confirm the validity of this paper, magnetic core materials were fabricated and measured by B-H curve tracer. The experiments were prevailed from 5A to 250A primary current.