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Recharge the electric car? The robot takes care of it

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ROME – With the aim of automating the charging of an electric vehicle, researchers from the Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) and the Austrian companies Alveri and Arti Robots are developing a mobile and completely autonomous charging robot that independently heads towards an electric vehicle parked by recharging it. The prototype developed by the team of researchers still needs further refinements but already at its first public worldwide demonstration it offered a concrete taste of the vision of its designers. The mobile robot is compact in size and consists of a cable-powered platform with four small wheels, dominated by the robotic articulated arm that connects autonomously to the vehicle’s charging connector.

The computer-controlled robot (not yet integrated into the platform) is able to move autonomously and moves towards the vehicle to be charged with a speed of up to 20 kilometers per hour. Thanks to an optical detection system, the robot arm guides the charging cable to the door of the socket on the vehicle and fits correctly, while once the operation is finished it disconnects and moves away from the vehicle.

“The process of refueling or recharging a vehicle is not a great challenge for humans – said Bernhard Walzel of the Institute of Automotive Engineering, TU Graz – But for an automated system, on the other hand, it is a very complex issue. , which must be precise to the millimeter “. Walzel and his college colleague, Helmut Brunner, had already made a stationary charging robot in 2018 and are now working intensively on the autonomous and mobile version with specialists from the two partner companies Alveri and Arti Robots. The subsequent steps, before a possible series production, still provide various optimizations such as, for example, the integration of the software necessary for its functioning autonomously and a type of wireless power supply instead of the cable one. The technology was developed for fully autonomous charging of different types of cars and other electric vehicles and introduces a new approach to automated and robot-controlled charging that is based on a standardized charging interface. (mr)

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