Hyundai reveals new automatic charging robot for electric vehicles

The Hyundai Motor Group has revealed a new automatic charging robot for electric vehicles, and has released a video to demonstrate its capabilities.

The one-armed robot is able to plug in a charging cable into an electric vehicle's charging port, and remove it once charging is complete. In the video, an Ioniq 6 parks autonomously into a charging bay, and once the vehicle is stationary, the robot begins to communicate to the vehicle to open its charging port, utilising a camera to pinpoint the angle needed to insert the charging plug.

Once charging is complete, the robot then removes the charger and returns it to its rightful place, and is even able to close the cover of the vehicle's charging port.

The Group's Robotics Lab has considered diverse variables in developing the ACR, such as the parking location of the vehicle, the shape of the charging port, the weather, potential obstacles and weight of the charging cable.

The robot is said to utilise 3D camera-based AI technology to allow it to fasten a charger to a charging port securely, while next generation control technology, meanwhile, allows it to accurately handle heavy charger plugs.

The robot also features a waterproof and dustproof design, allowing it to operate outdoors if necessary, while a safety pole with a built-in laser sensor allows it to detect both stationary and moving obstacles, so as to prevent potential collisions.

Hyundai Motor Group states that it expects automatic charging robots to significantly increase convenience of electric vehicle charging while improving the utilisation of charging infrastructure by sequentially charging several parked vehicles when paired with autonomous parking control systems.