The challenge
Deliver power without conductive contacts that can be fouled by lunar regolith, while still making the coupling plates practical to dock, protect, and build.
WERC Task 4 · Coupler lead · In development
Designing the interface that lets a lunar rover charge without touching the station.
I lead the coupler subteam for WERC Task 4, translating a capacitive wireless-power concept into a rover-to-station interface that can tolerate an air gap, imperfect docking, lunar dust, and extreme cold.
- Role
- Coupler lead
- Program
- WERC 2027 Task 4
- System
- Capacitive wireless charging
- Status
- Concept & preliminary design
My role
Lead the plate architecture, dust-mitigation concept, design tradeoffs, and coupler-specific test plan across the rover and charging station.
The direction
A four-plate, rounded-rectangle coupler mounted vertically on the rover’s front face, with passive plate protection and an active dust-cleaning layer on the station.
25 Wminimum DC target
≥70%target efficiency
≥25 mmbench-scale air gap
4coupling plates
These are project requirements and preliminary design targets, not measured results.
Why four rounded plates?
The interface needs a self-contained return path and a geometry that reduces electric-field concentration at exposed edges.
- 01
Build in the return path
Two plates on the rover and two on the station form two coupling pairs, avoiding dependence on a ground return through dry lunar regolith.
- 02
Control edge fields
Rounded rectangle plates preserve usable area while reducing the field peaks that sharp corners create. A thin PTFE film adds a dielectric barrier.
- 03
Dock where we can see
Front-mounted vertical plates keep the docking target visible to the rover camera, preserve ground clearance, and help loose dust shed rather than collect.
Keeping dust out of the power path
The concept uses passive protection on the rover and active cleaning at the station—without asking the charge plates to do both jobs.
- Rover protection
- High-mounted plates, wheel fenders, and a spring-return door keep the rover-side plates covered while driving.
- Passive opening
- A fixed finger on the station opens the rover door only as it docks, eliminating a rover-side actuator from the baseline concept.
- Station cleaning
- An electrodynamic dust-shield layer is planned as a separate cover layer, run between charges to clear residual dust.
- Safe failure
- If the rover misses the opening feature, the plate remains covered and charging does not begin.
What I’m validating next
- 01
Coupling performance
Measure input/output power, capacitance, and efficiency as plate separation and lateral misalignment change.
- 02
Dust tolerance
Compare capacitance and Q with 0, 1, 5, and 10 mm of lunar-regolith simulant on the plates, and test the EDS cover with charging disabled.
- 03
Integration limits
Check plate protection, door engagement, alignment tolerance, and the mechanical package against the rover docking and thermal constraints.
Skills I’m using
- Systems engineering
- Concept development
- Design trade studies
- Electrical-mechanical integration
- Test planning
- Technical leadership