Volkswagen is even Closer to the Cyber Future

The urgent problem today is the lack of charging stations for electric vehicles, as well as the question of their availability. Not infrequently, due to the lack of Parking places, drivers of petrol cars are forced to take a parking space equipped with a charging station. Naturally, the driver of an electric car can’t drive up to the charging station if he has a necessity.

However, Volkswagen has found a solution. Volkswagen Group Components take on this task of implementing Autonomous robotic charging points. The company intends to create robots that will move through organized Parking lots as covered multi-level ones or Parking on the territory of shopping centers. The problem obviously will be the power supply of electric cars, while opening the cover of the charging socket and connecting the plug to the connector will occur without human intervention.

Presumably, the process will be carried out in a further way: a robot equipped with a mobile, an energy storage trailer will connect it to the car. During the charging process, the robot will be able to fulfill a similar operation with other cars. He uses this energy storage device to charge the battery.

At the moment, the prototype is a self-propelled robot. It can move several battery cars at the same time. Thanks to the built-in charging electronics, the energy storage device provides fast DC charging up to 50 kW on the vehicle. The robot is equipped with cameras and ultrasonic or laser sensors-scanners. Thanks to this configuration, the robot can move freely and without harm to itself or other cars in the Parking lot.

In the implementation of the project, the primary problem remains the infrastructure. There are some obvious questions about the service organization. It includes — the robots' Parking place, the way displacement, the support conditions. However, this idea won't be implemented in early than 2025.