HPC charging robot to demonstrate charging on Audi e-tron
The development of the charging robot is one major goal of the project, while the standardisation of the solution is the other. As a result, it is important for the consortium to contribute the development results achieved since 2022 to the relevant standardisation bodies, such as ISO, IEC and CCC. The project participants include Ionity, Audi and TÜV Süd as consortium members as well as Porsche, BMW, Ford, Marquardt, AVL, Huber+Suhner and Rocsys as associated partners. At the start of the project, they described their mission as developing the world’s first non-proprietary, manufacturer-independent, fully automated, user-friendly and efficient fast-charging solution.
The HPC system developed as part of the project specifically consists of a robot charger that can handle and connect the charging cable autonomously. Other components of the ROCIN-ECO solution include an optimised HPC cable, automated charging flaps on the vehicle side and interfaces between all parts. The latter interfaces primarily relate to communication between the components and are essential from the participant’s point of view. They were defined on the basis of user requirements, use cases and technical requirements – and are now to be defined as practicable minimum requirements and proposed to the aforementioned standardisation committees.
While this takes place away from the public eye, robotic charging itself should attract as much attention as possible. That is why the project participants have announced a live demonstration at the Ionity test site in Unterschleißheim on 18 June. An Audi e-tron and a charging robot from Rocsys will interact there on this day. The communication and localisation solution comes from mechatronics specialist Marquardt.
From 18 to 20 June, Marquardt also plans to showcase key components of robotic charging at the Battery Show Europe in Stuttgart. These include a fully automated demonstrator of the Interactive Charging System (ICS) and a 3D video animation of the complete robotic charging process. From the company’s perspective, the trend towards e-mobility and autonomous driving opens up numerous fields of application for robotic charging: “In addition to autonomous valet parking and charging, where vehicles park and charge completely independently, we see potential wherever mass charging is in demand for fleet operators, for example in the truck or material handling sector and in port intralogistics,” said Andreas Becher, Technical Project Manager Innovation at Marquardt. “Globally valid norms and standards are essential for practical implementation, and we are now creating the foundations for this.”
Update 24 July 2024
The ROCIN-ECO consortium recently announced the demonstration of an automated charging process with an Audi e-tron at the Ionity test site in Unterschleißheim. The demonstration has now taken place and a short video has been published.
0 Comments