Hello,

Let me introduce myself, I am Benjamin Folliet, a french student passionate about electronics for several years. I am almost 17 years old now, and am studying in this field with a view to obtaining an engineering degree.

I carried out various personal projects which allowed me to train myself little by little, such as an electric scooter at 13 years old, which allowed me to improve my knowledge in the field of charging and control of batteries (BMS), or even motor control (homemade MOSFET controller).

More recently, my work has allowed me to embark on more advanced projects, with a concrete objective of public utility rather than training, although I still have to learn.

Among other things, last year, at the start of the COVID pandemic, I made a device that inactivates the coronavirus in the air using powerful ultraviolet rays. This tool was ordered and purchased by the renowned Dr Jacques Lebahar, who implements the latest technologies in his field, such as the American invisalign system. For more information you can consult his website https://www.thonon-orthodontie.com/

Currently, I spend my days (outside of class) designing a prototype wireless power transmission, using resonant coils.

This is the idea of this prototype that I presented to the Keysight Smart Bench Challenge, of which I had the honor of being one of the lucky winners : https://www.keysightbenchchallenge.com/2021/entries/676-0416-145847-my-student-laboratory

Indeed, there are real issues behind the wireless energy transmission, especially in the automotive sector, or even in aeronautics (the International Telecommunication Union has published a document that presents the applications and research advances in these technologies https://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-r/opb/rep/R-REP-SM.2392-2016-PDF-E.pdf).

The peculiarity of my system is that I am looking to experiment with resonant devices in a frequency range that is not generally used for these transmissions (100kHz to 50Mhz, whereas current devices use the frequency range of 0.5Ghz to 14Ghz). I plan to experiment using classic and simple modulations like PWM, but also more complex modulations like PRF modulation.

I am carrying out this project because there are few in-depth studies on systems resonating at these frequencies on high powers. However, I find that the few results that I have been able to find on the internet are very promising (more than what is currently being done with other methods), but the experiments have only rarely been pushed further than a few Watts and a few meters of transmission.

So who knows, maybe my method will be the energy transmission method of the future?

Anyway, I will surely make a website presenting my research when it is complete, if it is worth it.

There are increasingly serious projects in this field (Emrod, Alanson Sample, Lectrifi...), but they are really different from what I seek to achieve in frequencies, distances and powers.

Here is a short 2-minute video made to present this project to you in a more user-friendly way : https://youtu.be/r4Z_0xsl9J0

The design is based on two circuits, one with four layers circuit dedicated to the control of the prototype is presented here and another much larger and more complex which will not be presented (I prefer not to present it for the moment). This control circuit from 11*20cm should have an ENIG finish (BGA circuits have a fine pitch and an HASL finish will not be precise enough).

The components are quite close together because despite the small size of the circuit, manually solderable components have been favored, for more flexibility.

This circuit, dedicated to the remote control of various prototypes via optical fiber, is based on a powerful STM microcontroller and largely sufficient for this application. Two SFP transceivers allow an isolated link with one or two circuits. This is an inexpensive and reliable solution: classic 1Gb / s transceivers are driven at a low frequency with a signal modulated by the microcontroller, which allows them to operate at low frequency.

To communicate with the controller, many buttons with led lights are available, as well as a small OLED screen. The autonomy and transport of the device is ensured by the low consumption of the whole and the battery consisting of 3 Li-ion 18650 cells.

USB type A, MIDI, PS / 2 and VGA interfaces are also available, the microcontroller allows you to manage them without worries.

Finally, the controller can easily be reprogrammed via a micro-USB port, saving time when upgrading the system.

Here is a quick summary of my first PCB. The circuit to which it is connected is based on an FPGA, grid drivers isolated from each other and supporting a wide frequency range, in order to make precise tests with both IGBT H-bridges and tubes in high frequency.

Hope you like the concept. Having a reward in this competition would allow me to continue his research, which requires significant resources.

Regards,

Benjamin Folliet