Demo
Prototype
View a demo of our prototype here.
Through the use of a vision system and object detection algorithm, our robotic arm is able to detect and plug into a vehicle charge port without any human interaction.
Our robotic arm can be seemlessly installed at any existing EV charging station due to its modular design.
By eliminating the need for charging station attendants, our product is guaranteed to increase your bottom line.
There have been three major developments in the industry within the past decade: electric vehicles (EVs), ride-share apps and autonomous vehicles (AVs). The global EV fleet is expected to excees 200 million vehicles by 2030, while the global ride-share market will reach $230 billion by the same time. Furthermore, the AV market has seen over $80 billion invested into the development of its technology from 2014 to 2017, and 8 out of the 10 largest OEMs plan to have this highly autonomous tech road-ready by 2025. Due to the growth and development of these three major technologies, leaders such as Tesla, Waymo and Uber have announced autonomous ride-share services, also called "Robo-Taxis". This emerging industry holds a projected value of $300 billion by 2030.
Current infrastructure for EV charging requires human interaction. In order for Robo-Taxis to truly operate at their highest capacity, the vehicle charging process must also be automated. Existing solutions for charging include AC slow-charging, DC fast-charging, and wireless induction - all of which are either too slow, too expensive or require manual interaction. Hence, a need exists to identify a solution to autonomously charge EVs in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
Our solution is to create a robotic arm that can be retrofitted to existing charging stations in order to automate the charging process. By using a vision system and an object detection algorithm, our product is able to identify the vehicle charge port location and direct the charging handle into the port.
