With the advancement of autonomous and electric vehicles, an increasing demand has
been observed for the automatic robot-controlled charging of electric vehicles. The
idea of developing such charging stations was raised at several research institutions
and universities as early as the 2010s, however the appearance of automatic charging
stations with higher Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) can only be dated from 2019
onwards. In most of the developed concepts and solutions, a dedicated parking system
is required by vehicle drivers, since the operating range of the robots used for charging
is limited. In most cases, solutions do not incorporate robots with unique geometries;
instead, proven industrial solutions are applied. The robots in these prototypes are
typically installed in a fixed position, similar to industrial applications, and are
not mobile. The charging of one vehicle is usually performed by one robot. A high-level
summary of the developed mechanical system is presented in this project overview.
In this research, an automated, robot-controlled electric vehicle charging system
was designed, in which vehicles are parked perpendicularly adjacent to each other,
and multiple vehicles are charged using a single collaborative robot. The mechanical
system was implemented with a robot mounted on an extendable arm attached to a carriage,
which is guided in two directions along rails. In this manner, the automatic charging
system is positioned precisely at the parking location of the vehicle to be charged.
