Wireless Energy Systems in Extreme Environments: New Solutions for Earth- and Space-Based Wireless Power Transmission and Low-Power Wireless Communications Systems

Abstract

As global space agencies and private companies pursue ambitious lunar exploration programs, including NASA's Artemis initiative, establishing sustainable operations on the Moon requires innovative solutions to overcome extreme environmental conditions, power scarcity, and radio frequency (RF) interference constraints. This dissertation addresses critical technological challenges for lunar and planetary missions through four interconnected research contributions in wireless power transfer, RF energy harvesting, and low-power and low-emissions communications. First, this work investigates magnetic coupling behavior in wireless power transfer systems operating in the presence of lunar regolith simulant enriched with iron nanoparticles. Findings reveal that particle size and skin depth of metallic iron content are critical parameters for electromagnetic coupling, with implications for modeling accuracy in future lunar missions. These results extend beyond space applications to benefit terrestrial systems including ground-penetrating radar and wireless power networks. Second, a high-power RF energy harvesting prototype is demonstrated, delivering nearly 3 W of DC power—orders of magnitude beyond traditional RF harvesters—using an array architecture operating in the ultra-high frequency band, with validation through real-world cellular site demonstrations. Third, a low-power wireless communication system using modulated Johnson noise (MJN) is developed and tested with WISP 6 RFID tags, achieving 100\% data transmission accuracy up to 10 cm without requiring a generated RF carrier, thereby reducing system power requirements. Finally, MJN-based wireless communications is extended to lunar surface vehicles, through investigating electromagnetic field coupling with lunar regolith and its effects on MJN system performance. This work aims to enable autonomous lunar rovers to communicate wirelessly while minimizing RF interference near sensitive radioastronomy installations and maximizing mission longevity in resource-constrained environments. An important contribution of this work is development of new analytical models for range scaling of noise power, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and channel capacity for MJN wireless communications systems.