Hyundai Motor Group Shows Newly Developed Automatic Charging Robot for Electric Vehicles

Hyundai Motor Group (the Group) has developed an automatic charging robot (ACR) for electric vehicles (EV) and today released a video showing its capabilities.

The ACR for EVs is a one-arm robot capable of plugging a cable into an EV’s charging port and removing it again once the setting is complete. The new video of the actual robot in action follows up on a CGI version released by the Group in July last year.

The ACR Video Released in July 2022

The new video begins with a scene where the Hyundai IONIQ 6 parks autonomously in an EV charging bay. Once the vehicle is stationary, the ACR communicates with the car to open the charging port, calculating the exact location and angle through a camera mounted inside.

The robot then picks up the charger and fastens it to the vehicle’s charging port, thus starting the charging session. Once the setting is complete, the robot removes the charger, returns it to its rightful place, and closes the vehicle’s charging port cover.

“The ACR will help to make EV-charging easier and more convenient, especially in dark environments. It will also improve accessibility, particularly for people with mobility barriers, as charging cables become thicker and heavier to enable high-speed charging,” said Dong Jin Hyun, Head of the Robotics Lab, Hyundai Motor Group. “We will continue developing the ACR for increased safety and convenience so that all EV customers can soon benefit from using it at charging stations.”

The ACR, which may appear deceptively simple at first glance, is an example of the Group’s advanced robot technology. The Group’s Robotics Lab has considered diverse variables in developing the ACR, such as the vehicle’s parking location, the shape of the charging port, the weather, potential obstacles and the weight of the charging cable.

Software technology that can simultaneously calculate these multiple variables is required for a robot to fasten a charger to the charging port securely. To this end, the Group has developed an algorithm that applies 3D camera-based AI technology to robots. Next-generation control technology based on this application allows robots to handle heavy chargers accurately.

Given that most EV chargers are installed outdoors without cover, the Group’s engineers built a bespoke outdoor electric vehicle charging station at its R&D centre and evaluate performance in various conditions.

As a result, the ACR has secured a waterproof and dustproof grade of IP65. Its performance has been dramatically improved so it can be stably operated even in extreme environments. In addition, engineers have installed a safety pole with a built-in laser sensor around the robot to prevent possible accidents by enabling it to detect stationary and moving obstacles.

The Group expects automatic charging robots to increase the convenience of EV charging significantly. If combined with autonomous parking control systems in the future, it can improve utilization by sequentially setting several parked vehicles.

YouTube Video

The newly unveiled ACR will be displayed at the Hyundai MotoMotor’sibition booth during the 2023 Seoul Mobility Show at KINTEX in Ilsan-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, from March 31 to April 9.

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