Doosan Robotics begins pilot operation of automatic electric vehicle charging solution using collaborative robots
2024. 04. 16
Doosan Robotics, partnered with LG Electronics, has developed an automatic collaborative robot electric vehicle charging solution, and started pilot operation.
On the 16th, Doosan Robotics announced that it held an opening ceremony for the "Automatic Electric Vehicle Charging Solution Pilot Operation Site" with LG Electronics at LG Science Park in Gangseo-gu, Seoul on the 11th and started pilot operation.
The newly developed electric vehicle automatic charging solution is a system that incorporates Doosan Robotics' collaborative robot into LG Electronics' 100 kW fast electric vehicle charger.
The solution is made up of a kiosk for vehicle recognition and payment, and an automatic charging system. When a driver parks an electric vehicle in a zone where it can be charged, a camera separately installed transmits vehicle-related information to the system, and the driver completes authentication. Then, an AI-based 3D vision camera attached to the collaborative robot identifies the location of the electric vehicle's charging port, and the collaborative robot connects the charging cable to the charging port to start charging. When charging is complete, the robot removes the charger from the charging port and replaces it in its original position, and automatic payment proceeds.
The key advantages of the automatic electric vehicle charging solution using collaborative robots are safety and the precise insertion of the heavy charging cable into the charging port. Doosan Robotics has implemented this solution by precisely controlling forces with high-performance torque sensors mounted on all six joints of the collaborative robot and securing the industry's highest levels of safety certification (PLe, Cat4).
Typically, electric vehicle fast charging systems have large, heavy and difficult-to-handle charger cables compared to slow charging systems. In this regard, this solution can make charging more convenient and safer for drivers.
The two companies plan to reflect improvements made after the pilot operation to further enhance the completeness of the automatic electric vehicle charging solution, and also to consider developing a variety of automatic charging solutions in the future.
Junghoon Ryu, CEO of Doosan Robotics, said, "The automatic electric car charging solution is a technology that is difficult to develop unless the sensitivity, accuracy, and safety of collaborative robots," and added, "We will respond to the rapidly growing electric vehicle charging market by improving the completeness of our products and diversifying our automatic charging solutions in the future."
