Hyundai developed a working “automatic charging robot” that can plug a cable into your EV’s charging port for you. The bot has been shown in action and can work both indoors and outdoors to help simplify the charging experience.
“The ACR will help to make EV-charging easier and more convenient, especially in dark environments,” said Dong Jin Hyun, Head of Robotics Lab, Hyundai Motor Group. “It will also improve accessibility, particularly for people with mobility barriers, as charging cables become thicker and heavier to enable high-speed charging.”
Hyundai says that it will continue to develop the charger, but for now, it is a one-arm device that uses 3D camera-based AI technology to plug a charging cable into a vehicle’s port and then pulls it out again once the battery is full.
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The automaker admits that this might seem like a pretty easy robot to design, but says that there was actually a lot to consider. For one, the position of parked vehicles can vary a surprising amount, as can the shape and angle of the charging port.
It also noticed that a large number of charging stations were located outdoors, with little to no cover for the charger. To prepare the robot for that, it put one outside its R&D center and evaluated its performance in various conditions. The result is an automatic charging robot that is rated as waterproof and dustproof, to ensure it can work as well in a desert as it does in a storm.
Because outdoor chargers are predominantly located in public spaces, the automaker also had to create a safety pole for the automatic charging robot. This uses laser sensors to help warn people who might walk by that a robot is operating.
If you’re wondering why Hyundai didn’t equip the robot with wheels, that’s because the thing it’s plugging into has them already. The automaker says that, in combination with automated parking technology, cars could effectively drive themselves into a parking space, charge, and then drive out again while you’re in your office. That would not only make it more convenient for owners but would allow more vehicles to charge in a given space.
Hyundai will show the automatic charging robot at the 2023 Seoul Mobility Show, which runs from March 31 to April 9.