KR102014333B1 - Charging robot for electric vehicle for performing charging by automatic driving and docking - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a charging robot which performs charging by being automatically docked to a charging connector of an electric vehicle after moving by autonomous driving to a position where the electric vehicle is parked only with a simple order of a driver. The charging robot for charging an electric vehicle of the present invention comprises: a case; an electric energy storage device disposed inside the case; a docking device disposed inside the case, electrically connected to the electric energy storage device, and docked to a charging port or a charging connector of an electric vehicle; and a position sensor for sensing a feature point to generate position information related to a position of the charging port or the charging connector of the electric vehicle. The charging robot moves in accordance with the position information, and the docking device is be driven in accordance with the position information.

Description

CHARGING ROBOT FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE FOR PERFORMING CHARGING BY AUTOMATIC DRIVING AND DOCKING}

The present invention relates to a charging robot for an electric vehicle that performs charging by autonomous driving and automatic docking.

Recently, due to various problems such as depletion of fossil fuels and environmental pollution, research and development of active vehicles for replacing them are being actively conducted.

In addition, although an electric vehicle is representative as a means of transportation that has already been commercialized, it is about charging of an electric vehicle that is mentioned together whenever an electric vehicle appears.

Installing an electric vehicle charging device in all parking spaces of a building parking lot, such as an apartment or a building, is too expensive and is inefficient in that a non-electric car is also present.

If so, it may be an alternative to install an electric vehicle charging device only in some parking spaces. In this case, there may be a problem of efficiency of leaving a parking space and a problem of insufficient charging device when a lot of electric vehicles enter the parking lot. do.

An alternative to the above problems is the passive mobile charging device. In the case of the manual mobile charging device, the user has to move the mobile charging device from the charging station to the vehicle.

As described above, in the situation where the number of users of electric vehicles is rapidly increasing every year, there is no alternative to solve the above problems.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a charging robot that performs autonomous docking to the charging connector of the electric vehicle after moving to an autonomous driving to the position where the electric vehicle is parked with a simple order of the driver.

Problems to be solved by the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned problems, and other problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

A charging robot according to an aspect of the present invention for solving the above problems is a charging robot for charging an electric vehicle, the case; An electrical energy storage device disposed in the case; A docking device disposed inside the case, electrically connected to the electric energy storage device, and docked to a charging port or a charging connector of an electric vehicle; And a position sensor that senses a feature point and generates position information related to a position of a charging port or a charging connector of the electric vehicle, wherein the charging robot moves according to the position information, and the docking device is driven according to the position information. can do.

The position sensor may generate position information by photographing a feature point.

The parking area of the electric vehicle is specified in the parking lot mapped by the user's order signal, and the charging robot may move autonomously from the standby position to the parking area of the electric vehicle.

The charging robot moves from the parking area of the electric vehicle to the vicinity of the electric vehicle according to the location information generated by at least one of the characteristic point of the parking area and the charging port of the electric vehicle or the characteristic of the charging connector. According to the positional information generated by the feature of the charging port or the charging connector of the vehicle, it can be driven.

The charging robot may change its posture so that the withdrawal direction of the docking device may be aligned with the direction in which the charging port or the charging connector of the electric vehicle is located according to the position information, and then may move linearly to the vicinity of the electric vehicle.

The position sensor may include a remote position sensor that generates position information in at least one of the case where the charging robot moves in autonomous driving and when it moves to the vicinity of an electric vehicle, and the position information when the docking device is driven. It may include a near position sensor to generate.

The docking device includes a robot arm that linearly drives in three axes, and a docking socket disposed on the robot arm and docked at a charging port or a charging connector of an electric vehicle, wherein the remote position sensor is disposed in the case, A position sensor may be disposed in the docking socket.

The charging robot may further include an obstacle sensor for sensing an obstacle.

The obstacle sensor may have a main sensing direction in an autonomous driving direction on a plan view, and the remote location sensor may have a main sensing direction in a direction inclined to an autonomous driving direction on a plan view.

The charging robot may include: an emergency button disposed in the case and configured to perform at least one of stopping the movement by the touch operation and stopping the charging of the electric vehicle; The bumper may further include a bumper disposed at the base and configured to buffer the shock by reciprocating during impact.

The charging robot may further include a bumper sensor disposed on the bumper and configured to sense an impact of the bumper.

The charging robot, the base for performing at least one of forming a lower surface of the case and supporting the case; The apparatus further includes a moving device disposed below the base, wherein the base includes a main body overlapping with the case in a vertical direction, and a protrusion that does not overlap with the case in a vertical direction, and the moving device includes a main body of the base. And may be disposed to be distributed to the protrusions.

The moving device includes a first wheel and a second wheel disposed on the main body of the base, a third wheel and a fourth wheel disposed on the protrusion of the base, the radius of the first wheel and the second wheel is It is larger than the radius of the third wheel and the fourth wheel, and when charging, at least a portion of the protrusion may be drawn between the body of the electric vehicle and the ground.

The case may include a first compartment in which the electrical energy storage device is accommodated and a second compartment in which the docking device is accommodated, and a portion of the base body that overlaps the first compartment in a vertical direction is the second compartment. It may be located above the portion overlapping with the vertical direction.

The main body of the base is formed with a reinforcement frame inclinedly connecting a portion overlapping in the vertical direction with the first compartment in the main body of the base and a portion overlapping in the vertical direction with the second compartment in the main body of the base,

The reinforcement frame may be inclined downward toward a portion overlapping with the second compartment in a vertical direction in the main body of the base.

In the present invention, in the parking lot mapped by the user's simple order signal (order transmission using NFC communication and wide area network), the parking area of the electric vehicle is specified and moved to autonomous driving, and the feature of the charging port or the charging connector of the electric vehicle is determined. The present invention provides a charging robot capable of automating all processes of charging by capturing and docking a location of a charging port or a charging connector of an electric vehicle.

Effects of the present invention are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a process in which a charging robot of the present invention charges an electric vehicle and is charged at a charging station.
2 is a conceptual diagram showing that the charging connector of the present invention mounted on the electric vehicle.
3 is a perspective view showing a charging connector of the present invention.
4 is a perspective view of the charging connector of the present invention as viewed from a different point of view.
5 is a front view of the charging connector of the present invention.
6 is a perspective view showing a charging connector according to a modification of the present invention.
7 is a perspective view showing a charging robot of the present invention.
8 is a perspective view of the charging robot of the present invention as viewed from a different point of view.
9 is a plan view and a bottom view of the charging robot of the present invention.
10 is a side sectional view showing a charging robot of the present invention.
11 is a perspective view showing a docking apparatus of the present invention.
12 is an exploded perspective view showing a docking socket of the present invention.
Fig. 13 (1) is a plan view showing the attitude control of the docking socket of the present invention, and Fig. 13 (2) is a front view showing the docking socket of the present invention.
14 is a perspective view showing a state in which the charging connector and the docking socket of the present invention are separated from the docked state.
15 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an electric vehicle charging business model using a waste battery.

Advantages and features of the present invention and methods for achieving them will be apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but can be embodied in various different forms, and the present embodiments only make the disclosure of the present invention complete, and those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs. It is provided to fully inform the skilled worker of the scope of the invention, which is defined only by the scope of the claims.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. In this specification, the singular also includes the plural unless specifically stated otherwise in the phrase. As used herein, "comprises" and / or "comprising" does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other components in addition to the mentioned components. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout, and "and / or" includes each and all combinations of one or more of the mentioned components. Although "first", "second", etc. are used to describe various components, these components are of course not limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one component from another. Therefore, of course, the first component mentioned below may be a second component within the technical spirit of the present invention.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms used in the present specification (including technical and scientific terms) may be used in a sense that can be commonly understood by those skilled in the art. In addition, terms that are defined in a commonly used dictionary are not ideally or excessively interpreted unless they are specifically defined clearly.

The spatially relative terms " below ", " beneath ", " lower ", " above ", " upper " It can be used to easily describe a component's correlation with other components. Spatially relative terms are to be understood as including terms in different directions of components in use or operation in addition to the directions shown in the figures. For example, when flipping a component shown in the drawing, a component described as "below" or "beneath" of another component may be placed "above" the other component. Can be. Thus, the exemplary term "below" can encompass both an orientation of above and below. Components may be oriented in other directions as well, so spatially relative terms may be interpreted according to orientation.

Hereinafter, one side and the other side of the z-axis illustrated in the drawings may be defined in the front-rear direction. In this case, the direction of the arrow on the z-axis may be defined backward, and the direction opposite to the direction of the arrow on the z-axis may be defined forward. On the other hand, the front may be mixed with the "autonomous driving direction of the charging robot", the front may be defined by the "autonomous driving direction of the charging robot".

Hereinafter, one side and the other side of the x-axis shown in the drawings may be defined in the left and right directions. In this case, the direction of the arrow on the x axis may be defined as the right side, and the direction opposite to the direction of the arrow on the x axis may be defined as the left axis.

Hereinafter, one side and the other side of the y axis illustrated in the drawings may be defined in the up and down direction. In this case, the direction of the arrow on the y axis can be defined as upper side, and the direction opposite to the direction of the arrow on the y axis can be defined as lower side. On the other hand, the vertical direction may be mixed with the "vertical direction".

Hereinafter, the charging robot 1000 and the charging connector 100 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a process in which the charging robot of the present invention charges an electric vehicle and is charged in a charging station, FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a charging connector of the present invention mounted on an electric vehicle, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a charging connector, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the charging connector of the present invention as different from FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a front view of the charging connector of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a charging connector of a modified example of the present invention. 7 is a perspective view showing a charging robot of the present invention, Figure 8 is a perspective view of the charging robot of the present invention from a different point of view, Figure 9 is a plan view and a bottom view showing the charging robot of the present invention. 10 is a side cross-sectional view showing a charging robot of the present invention, Figure 11 is a perspective view showing a docking device of the present invention, Figure 12 is a docking socket of the present invention 13 is a plan view showing the attitude control of the docking socket of the present invention, FIG. 13 (2) is a front view showing the docking socket of the present invention, and FIG. 14 is a charging connector of the present invention. A perspective view illustrating a docking socket in a docked state and a separated state.

The charging robot 1000 of the present invention may perform a function of charging the parked electric vehicle 1. In this case, the electric vehicle 1 may not only be a vehicle that is driven by a driving force by a battery engine, but also includes a hybrid vehicle that is driven by a driving force by a battery engine and an internal combustion engine. Can be.

Hereinafter, a process in which the charging robot 1000 of the present invention charges the electric vehicle 1 and is charged in the charging station 20 will be described.

First, the user parks the electric vehicle 1, mounts the charging connector 100 on the license plate 3 of the electric vehicle 1, and then charges the charging connector 100 by the cable 100-1. It can electrically connect with the charging port 2 of (1) (refer FIG. 1 (1), FIG. 2). Alternatively, the charging robot 1000 of the present invention may be docked directly to the charging port of the electric vehicle 1, in this case, the charging connector 100 may be omitted. In addition, the charging port 2 and the charging connector 100 of the electric vehicle 1 may have a substantially identical structure. The charging port 2 of the electric vehicle 1 may be provided from the production manufacturing stage of the electric vehicle 1, or alternatively, the user may be provided by remodeling the charging hole 2 of the electric vehicle 1. have.

As a next step, the user may use the user device 10 to transmit an order signal for calling the charging robot 1000 of the present invention to a central server (robot management company server, parking lot management server, etc.). In this case, the user device 10 may include one or more of a telecommunication device such as a smart phone, a tablet, a PDA, a laptop, a remote controller, but is not limited thereto.

For example, the parking lot may be divided into a plurality of parking areas (on the other hand, a plurality of parking areas may be overlapped with each other), and the plurality of parking areas may be matched with smart tags (for example, NFC tags; Near field communication tag) may be provided (eg, attached to a pillar). The user can transmit the order signal to the central server by selecting the NFC tag located in the parking area of the electric vehicle 1 using the user device 10, but the order signal of the present invention is not limited thereto.

Meanwhile, a parking lot may be mapped to a central server based on a drawing of a building. In the central server, the parking area of the electric vehicle 1 may be specified in the mapped parking lot by the user's order signal (processing the user's order signal). Thereafter, the central server may issue a control command to the charging robot 1000 so that the charging robot 1000 moves to the parking area of the electric vehicle 1.

According to the above-described process, the charging robot 1000 of the present invention can move autonomously from the standby position to the parking area of the electric vehicle 1 (a wide area including the position where the electric vehicle is parked) (see FIG. 1). (2-1) in (2)).

As a next step, the charging robot 1000 of the present invention senses a “feature point” by the position sensors 820 and 830 while moving in autonomous driving, and relates to the position of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of an electric vehicle). The location information may be generated, and thus, autonomous driving may be stopped, the attitude may be changed, and the vehicle may be driven to the vicinity of the electric vehicle 1. In more detail, the charging robot 100 has a charging direction 100 (rear) of the docking device 400 in the drawing direction according to the position information related to the position of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle). After the posture is changed to be aligned with the direction in which the charging port of the vehicle is located, the vehicle may move in a straight line to the vicinity of the electric vehicle 1.

In this case, the "features" may be located in various places in various numbers and forms. For example, the "feature point" may be a feature point (not shown) of the parking area located in the parking area, and the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle) positioned in the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle). ) May be a feature point 140, but the position of the "feature point" of the present invention is not limited thereto.

In addition, the “feature point” may be identified as a two-dimensional image in the position sensors 820 and 830 by having a shape such as a smart code, or may be identified as three-dimensional depth information in the position sensor 820 and 830 by having a specific shape. 820 and 830 may be identified by communicating with a specific electronic signal (eg, beacon), but are not limited thereto.

In this case, " positional information related to the position of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle) " ) Can be interpreted as a concept encompassing all information that can be derived (calculated), and is not limited to the position (coordinate) of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle) itself.

For example, the charging robot 1000 of the present invention may be provided with a remote location sensor 820, the remote location sensor 820 is a feature of the parking area (not shown) and the charging connector 100 (or charging of the electric vehicle) At least one of the feature point 140 of the nine) can be sensed. As a result, the charging robot 1000 of the present invention, while moving in the autonomous driving, the feature point (not shown) of the parking area and the charging connector 100 (or electrical According to the "positional information" generated by at least one of the feature points 140 of the charging port of the vehicle, the withdrawal direction of the docking device 400 of the charging robot 1000 is the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle). ) May be changed to be aligned with the direction in which the vehicle is positioned, and then moved in a straight line to the vicinity of the electric vehicle 1 (see (2-2) of FIG. 1).

For example, when the docking socket 500 is drawn out rearward from the charging robot 1000 (the position of the docking device is irrelevant), the posture of the docking socket 500 may be changed so that the rear side of the charging robot 1000 faces the charging connector.

As a next step, the charging robot 1000 of the present invention may be docked to the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle) by the driving of the docking device 400, it is possible to charge the electric vehicle (1). .

For example, the charging robot 1000 of the present invention may be provided with a near position sensor 830, the near position sensor 830 in the vicinity of the electric vehicle 1, the charging connector 100; or charging of the electric vehicle The feature point 140 of the sphere may be sensed.

In addition, the docking device 400 of the charging robot 1000 of the present invention is a robot arm 410 for linear driving in three axes, the robot arm 410 is disposed on the charging connector 100 (or charging port of an electric vehicle) It may include a docking socket 500 that is docked to).

Accordingly, the docking device 400 moves to the vicinity of the electric vehicle 1, the charging robot 1000, and then the "position" generated by the feature point 140 of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle) Information ". In this case, the robot arm 410 is driven according to the "positional information" of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle), so that the docking socket 500 is connected to the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle). Can be docked

After docking, the charging robot 1000 of the present invention collects the electrical energy of the electrical energy storage device 300 from the docking socket 500, the charging connector 100, the cable 100-1, and the charging port of the electric vehicle 1. The electric vehicle 1 may be charged through the process of transferring the electric vehicle 1 through (2) (see (3) of FIG. 1).

As a next step, when the charging robot 1000 of the present invention is discharged, the charging robot 1000 of the present invention moves to the charging station 20 and is charged in the same manner as docked to the charging connector 100. The connector 20-1 may be docked and charged. To this end, the charging station connector 20-1 and the charging connector 100 may have substantially the same structure.

In summary, the charging robot 1000 of the present invention may move autonomously from the standby position to the parking area of the electric vehicle 1, in which case the parking area of the electric vehicle 1 is a user's order signal. It may be an area specified in the parking lot mapped by.

Furthermore, when the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle) is found during autonomous driving, the charging robot 1000 changes its posture according to "location information" and then the electric vehicle in the parking area of the electric vehicle 1. It can be moved to the neighborhood of (1), the docking device 400 may be driven according to the "location information" docking.

Meanwhile, the remote position sensor 820 may generate "location information" when the charging robot 1000 moves to the vicinity of the electric vehicle 1, and the near position sensor 830 may include the docking device 400. In the case of driving, "location information" can be generated.

However, the process of charging the electric vehicle 1 by the charging robot 1000 of the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the charging robot 1000 of the present invention moves autonomously to the vicinity of the electric vehicle 1 by the user's order signal, and then docks the device according to the position information generated by the near position sensor 830. 400 may be driven and docked at the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle).

Hereinafter, the charging connector 100 of the present invention will be described. As described above, the charging connector 100 of the present invention may be electrically connected to the charging port 2 of the electric vehicle 1 by the cable 100-1, the license plate 3 of the electric vehicle 1 It can be mounted on and fixed to it (see FIG. 2). In addition, the docking socket 500 of the charging robot 1000 may be docked to transfer electric energy of the electric energy storage device 300 to the electric vehicle 1.

The charging connector 100 of the present invention may include a case 110, a plurality of connector guides 120, one or more connector electrodes 130, a feature point 140, and a plurality of hooks 150.

The case 110 of the charging connector 100 is a member for forming an appearance of the charging connector 100 and may be manufactured by injection molding of a synthetic resin.

The plurality of connector guides 120 may have a shape corresponding to male and female coupling with the socket guide 520 of the docking socket 500. Therefore, the plurality of connector guides 120 may be formed to protrude, or may be formed to be recessed, and some may be formed to protrude and some may be recessed.

Hereinafter, a case where the plurality of connector guides 120 are formed to protrude from the case 110 will be described by way of example.

When the plurality of connector guides 120 are docked, the plurality of connector guides 120 may be accommodated in the plurality of socket guides 520 of the docking socket 500, and correctly guide the path in which the docking socket 500 is docked. can do.

Meanwhile, the charging robot 1000 of the present invention may dock the docking socket 500 to the charging connector 100 by three-axis linear driving of the robot arm 410 (docking driving). If the charging robot 1000 of the present invention may perform up to three-axis rotational driving of the robot arm 410, the attitude of the docking socket 500 depends on the attitude (slight tilting, etc.) of the charging connector 100. By precisely controlling the docking can be performed without any error.

However, in order to perform a three-axis rotational drive of the robot arm 410 in the charging robot 1000 of the present invention, since a separate drive module for this is added, there is a problem that the overall length is increased and the manufacturing cost is increased.

That is, in the charging connector 100 of the present invention, by providing a plurality of connector guides 120, the docking socket 500 is not precisely controlled by the charging robot 1000 of the present invention when docked, resulting in minute control. By compensating for the error, the docking socket 500 of the charging robot 1000 may be stably guided.

That is, the charging connector 100 of the present invention may be docked by the plurality of connector guides 120 even when the docking path of the docking socket 500 of the charging robot 1000 is slightly removed from the normal path and docked. 500 may be guided so that docking may be stably performed.

To this end, each of the plurality of connector guides 120 may have an arrangement in which they are spaced apart from each other in a vertical direction (y-axis). As a result, even when the docking socket 500 of the charging robot 1000 is not in a controlled posture (in particular, the x-axis pitch control), the plurality of socket guides 520 of the docking socket 500 are spaced apart from each other in the vertical direction. By being accommodated and guided in the plurality of connector guides 120, the posture may be substantially controlled.

Furthermore, the plurality of connector guides 120 may include a connector guide 121 located at the top, a connector guide 122 located at the bottom, and a connector guide 123 located at the middle. In this case, the number of connector guides 123 located in the middle may be adjusted according to the number of connector guides 120.

The connector guide 121 located at the top and the connector guide 122 located at the bottom may be formed to protrude more than the connector guide 123 located in the middle (in the form of depression, the connector guides at the top and bottom are further recessed). . For example, the maximum protruding length of the protruding end of the connector guide 121 located at the upper end and the connector guide 122 positioned at the lower end may be longer than the maximum protruding length of the protruding end of the connector guide 123 positioned at the middle.

Furthermore, the connector guide 121 located at the top and the connector guide 122 located at the bottom may be thicker than the connector guide 123 located at the middle. For example, the maximum length perpendicular to the protruding direction of the connector guide 121 positioned at the top and the connector guide 122 positioned at the lower end may be longer than the maximum length perpendicular to the protruding direction of the connector guide 123 positioned at the middle.

As described above, the reason why the shape of the plurality of connector guides 120 is set differently is that the connector guide 121 located at the top and the connector guide 122 located at the bottom of the connector guides 120 have a vertical direction ( As the connector guide located at the outermost position with respect to the y-axis), the docking socket 500 of the charging robot 1000 is first engaged in the attitude control of the docking socket 500 in the x-axis at the outermost portion, and thus the docking socket of the charging robot 1000 This is to guide the overall 500 into a predetermined frame of the plurality of connector guide 120.

In addition, at least one of the connector guide 121 located at the top and the connector guide 122 located at the bottom contacts the contact sensor 560 of the docking socket 500 such that the contact sensor 560 generates a “contact signal”. You can do that. The "contact signal" is a signal that the docking is completed, the charging can be started after the "contact signal" occurs in the contact sensor 560 of the docking socket 500.

In addition, each of at least some of the plurality of connector guides 120 protrudes from the lower side of the first inclined portion 120-1 and the first inclined portion 120-1 which are inclined downward in the protruding direction. It may include a second inclined portion 120-2 inclined upward toward the direction.

Accordingly, the plurality of connector guides 120 may be spaced apart from the plurality of socket guides 520 of the docking socket 500 according to the length of the docking socket 500 of the charging robot 1000, which will be described later. By narrowing step by step, the docking socket 500 of the charging robot 1000 can be naturally guided.

Furthermore, in order to improve the above-mentioned effect, each of at least some of the plurality of connector guides 120 is inclined to the left toward the protruding direction (depressed direction in the recessed form) and the third inclined portion (120-3), The fourth inclined portion 120-3 may be disposed on the left side and may include a fourth inclined portion 120-4 inclined to the right in the protruding direction. Meanwhile, the third slope portion 120-3 and the fourth slope portion 120-4 may be disposed between the first slope portion 120-1 and the second slope portion 120-2. It is not limited.

Meanwhile, each of the plurality of connector guides 120 may have rounded corners. As a result, the plurality of connector guides 120 may prevent the friction portion from being worn by the rounded corners in the process of being accommodated in the plurality of socket guides 520 of the docking socket 500.

Meanwhile, each of the plurality of connector guides 120 may have a form extending in the left and right directions (x-axis) (having a length in the left and right directions). As a result, even when the docking socket 500 of the charging robot 1000 does not have a posture controlled (particularly, z-axis roll control), the plurality of socket guides 520 of the docking socket 500 move in the horizontal direction (x-axis). By being accommodated and guided in the plurality of connector guides 120 having an extended shape, the posture may be substantially controlled.

One or more connector electrodes 130 may be disposed between the plurality of connector guides 120. When docked, one or more connector electrodes 130 may be electrically connected to one or more socket electrodes 530 of the docking socket 500.

Each of the one or more connector electrodes 130 may be formed to extend in a left and right direction (x axis), and include a first connector electrode 131 and a second connector electrode 132 neighboring in a vertical direction (y axis). Can be. Accordingly, when docked, one or more socket electrodes 530 of the docking socket 500 may be inserted between the first connector electrode 131 and the second connector electrode 132 of the one or more connector electrodes 130. As a result, the one or more connector electrodes 130, like the plurality of connector guides 120, compensate for the robot arm 410 of the charging robot 1000 not performing the posture control driving, thereby the one or more socket electrodes 530. Can guide.

Furthermore, the first connector electrode 131 and the second connector electrode 132 may have curvatures formed in opposite directions. Accordingly, physical resistance is generated by friction when the at least one socket electrode 530 is drawn in. Wear can be prevented.

Meanwhile, an end portion of the one or more connector electrodes 130 in the direction in which the plurality of connector guides 120 protrudes may not protrude beyond an end portion of the protruding portion of the plurality of connector guides 120.

Accordingly, the one or more connector electrodes 130 may be coupled to one or more socket electrodes 530 of the docking socket 500 after the docking socket 500 is guided by the plurality of connector guides 120. In addition, at least one connector electrode 130 may be prevented from being rubbed or damaged by the surrounding objects.

In a variation of the charging connector 100 of the present invention, one or more connector electrodes 130 may include a connector charging electrode (not shown) and a connector signal electrode (not shown). When docking, the connector charging electrode may be electrically connected to the docking charging electrode (not shown) of the docking socket 500, and the connector signal electrode may be coupled to the docking signal electrode (not shown) of the docking socket 500. Can be electrically connected. Meanwhile, the connector charging electrode may be an electrode used as a channel for charging, and the connector signal electrode may be an electrode for generating a signal for confirming docking. Thus, during docking, charging can be initiated via the connector charging electrode and the docking charging electrode after the " connection signal " occurs (or at the same time) through the connector signal electrode and the docking signal electrode.

One or more connector electrodes 130 of the modification of the charging connector 100 of the present invention may be provided in various forms. For example, the one or more connector electrodes 130 may be five pin-shaped electrodes or five pin holes. It may be a form of electrode (5 pin electrode, 5 pin hole electrode) (docking electrode and male and female fastening form, for example, when the connector electrode is a pin shape, the docking electrode may be a pin hole shape, and vice versa Further, some may be in the form of pins and others may be in the form of pin holes), four of which may be connector charging electrodes, and one electrode may be a connector signal electrode, but is not limited thereto.

The feature point 140 is sensed by the position sensors 820 and 830 of the charging robot 1000 to provide “position information” for the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle) to the charging robot 1000. have. The feature point 140 may be disposed adjacent to the plurality of connector guides 120. For example, the feature point 140 may be disposed on an upper side of the plurality of connector guides 120 (that is, an upper side of the connector guide 121 positioned at an upper end).

The feature point 140 may use various types of identification structures that may be sensed by the position sensors 820 and 830, and may be contacted or contactless. For example, a smart cord or the like may be used as the feature point 140. In this case, the feature point 140 is formed on a two-dimensional plane in the charging connector 100 (or a charging port of an electric vehicle), and the charging robot 1000 is used. May provide “location information” for the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle) in three-dimensional coordinates. For example, the “location information” may be data about the distance d and the angle θ between the position sensors 820 and 830 and the charging connector 100 (coordinate values of the charging connector on the three-dimensional coordinates).

The plurality of hooks 150 may serve to mount the charging connector 100 to the license plate 3 of the electric vehicle 1. On the other hand, the mounting point of the charging connector 100 of the present invention is not limited to the license plate 3 of the electric vehicle (1). That is, the charging connector 100 of the present invention may be mounted on various parts of the electric vehicle 1, for example, may be mounted on the front bumper of the electric vehicle 1.

The plurality of hooks 150 may be located at opposite sides of the plurality of connector guides 120 in the case 110 of the charging connector 100. At least some of the plurality of hooks 150 may be located at an upper side, and some of the hooks 150 may be located at a lower side. That is, the plurality of hooks 150 may be spaced apart in the vertical direction (y-axis).

In this case, the upper hook of the plurality of hooks 150 may be movable in the vertical direction, and the lower hook of the plurality of hooks 150 may be pivotable.

The charging connector 100 adjusts the separation distance of the plurality of hooks by moving the hooks located on the upper side of the plurality of hooks 150 in the vertical direction according to the height of the license plate 3, and the plurality of hooks 150. It is possible to be mounted on the license plate 3 by clamping the upper frame and the lower frame of the license plate 3 by pivotally driving a hook located at the lower side.

For example, the plurality of hooks 150 of the charging connector 100 of the present invention may include a first hook 151 and a second hook 152 located at an upper side, and a third hook 153 located at a lower side. The user may move the first hook 151 and the second hook 152 in the vertical direction according to the height of the license plate 3, and then the third hook 153 may be in close contact with the license plate 3. By pivoting, the charging connector 100 can be mounted on the license plate (3).

Hereinafter, the charging connector 2000 of the modification of this invention is demonstrated. Unlike the charging connector 1000 of the present invention, the charging connector 2000 according to the modification of the present invention does not need the cable 100-1, and does not need to be mounted on the license plate 3 to charge the electric vehicle 1. It can be docked directly to the sphere 2 (see FIG. 6; simple).

Therefore, in the charging connector 2000 of the modified example of the present invention, the plurality of hooks 150 of the charging connector 1000 of the present invention may be omitted. However, the charging connector 2000 of the modified example of the present invention may include another configuration of the charging connector 1000 of the present invention in addition to the plurality of hooks 150, and in this case, the charging connector 1000 of the present invention The configuration can be inferred and applied.

Meanwhile, the charging connector 2000 according to a modified example of the present invention may further include a sub connector 2200 and a hinge link 2300. The sub connector 2200 may be docked at the charging port 2 of the electric vehicle 1, and the hinge link 2300 may hingeably connect the case 2100 and the sub connector 2000 to be hinged. Therefore, the charging connector 2000 of the modified example of the present invention may be changed in posture while docked with the charging port 2 of the electric vehicle 1. Further, the hinge connector 2300 may change the posture of the case 2100 based on various axes, and may be replaced with various kinds of connectors such as spherical connectors.

Hereinafter, the charging robot 1000 of the present invention will be described. Charging robot 1000 of the present invention, the case 200, the electric energy storage device 300, the docking device 400, the base 600, the moving device 700, the sensing device 800, the emergency button 900 , A bumper 1100 and an electronic controller (not shown).

The case 200 may be configured to form an appearance of the charging robot 1000. Meanwhile, the shutter 210 may be disposed behind the case 200 of the charging robot 1000. The shutter 210 may be selectively opened at the time of docking driving and charging of the charging robot 1000, and may provide an open portion to draw the docking device 400 to the outside.

Meanwhile, the case 200 may include a first compartment 201 in which the electric energy storage device 300 is accommodated and a second compartment 202 in which the docking device 400 is accommodated. In this case, the first compartment 201 may be disposed in front of the second compartment 202, whereby the relatively heavy electrical energy storage device 300 is located in front of the docking device is relatively light weight. 400 is located at the rear, the overall center of gravity of the charging robot 1000 may be deflected forward.

The electric energy storage device 300 may store electric energy for charging the electric vehicle 1. The electrical energy storage device 300 may be built in the case 200. In this case, the electrical energy storage device 300 may be disposed in front of the docking device 400. On the other hand, the electrical energy storage device 300 may be a rechargeable battery.

The docking device 400 may be docked at the charging port 2 or the charging connector 100 of the electric vehicle 1, and may be configured to charge the electric vehicle 1. To this end, the docking device 400 may be electrically connected to the electrical energy storage device 300, and may include a robot arm 410 and a docking socket 500.

The robot arm 410 may drive linearly in three axes (x, y, z axis). A docking socket 500 may be disposed in the robot arm 410, and the docking socket 500 may be moved according to the docking driving of the robot arm 410, so that the charging hole 2 or the charging connector of the electric vehicle 1 ( Docked at 100).

The robot arm 410 includes a first rail 411, a second rail 412, an arm 413, a first robot arm driver 414, a second robot arm driver 415, and a third axis for driving three axes. The robot arm driver 416 may be included.

The first rail 411 may extend in a left and right direction (x axis), and the second rail 412 may be in a left and right direction (x axis) along the first rail 411 by the first robot arm driver 414. Can be moved straight.

The second rail 412 may extend in the vertical direction (y axis; vertical direction), and the arm part 413 is vertically along the second rail 412 by the second robot arm driver 415. ) Can be moved straight.

The arm 413 may linearly move in the front-rear direction (z-axis) by the third robot arm driver 416.

In this case, the first rail 411 and the second rail 412 may be provided in the form of a ball screw or lead screw, the arm portion 413 may be provided in the form of "x-link lift". In addition, as the first robot arm driver 414, the second robot arm driver 415, and the third robot arm driver 416, various types of electric motors (eg, step motors) or oil presses may be used.

The reason why the first rail 411 and the second rail 412 are provided in the form of a ball screw or a lead screw is to stably support the arm part 413 and move it precisely. In addition, the reason why the arm portion 413 is provided in the form of an "x-link lift" does not require much storage space when folded compared to other take-out devices (reduces the full length of the charging robot), and can secure a sufficient take-out length when unfolded. Because.

When the docking device 400 is driven, the first robot arm driver 414 and the second robot arm driver 415 are driven first (x, y-axis driving), and the docking socket (xy coordinate) is positioned on two-dimensional coordinates (xy coordinates). 500 may be aligned with the charging port 2 or the charging connector 100 of the electric vehicle 1.

Then, the third robot arm drive unit 416 is driven (z-axis drive), the arm portion 413 is pulled out to the rear (in the direction of the arrow on the z-axis), the docking socket 500 of the electric vehicle 1 The charging port 2 or the charging connector 100 can be docked.

On the other hand, in the modified example of the charging robot 1000 of the present invention, the docking device 400 may be disposed in front of the electric energy storage device 300 in the rear, in this case, the arm portion 413 may be drawn out to the front. have.

The robot arm 410 of the driving device 400 has been described above, and the detailed description of the docking socket 500 will be described later.

The base 600 may perform one of forming a lower surface (lower plate) of the case 200 and supporting the case 200. That is, the base 600 may be a member integrally formed with the case 200 or may be disposed below the case 200 as a member separate from the case 200 to support the case 200. Further, the base 600 may be a member composed of a single layer, or may be a member stacked on top of one another to form a plurality of layers.

The base 600 may include a main body 610 overlapping the case 200 in a vertical direction (y-axis) and a protrusion 620 not overlapping the case 200 in the vertical direction (y-axis). In this case, the protrusion 620 may protrude rearward from the main body 610 of the base 600. On the other hand, the protrusion 620 may be drawn under the vehicle body of the electric vehicle 1, when the charging robot 1000 of the present invention moves adjacent to the electric vehicle (1).

As described above, since the center of gravity of the charging robot 1000 of the present invention is positioned to be deflected forward by the relatively heavy energy storage device 300, the base 600 is protruded rearward and thus charged. The robot 1000 prevented it from falling easily during driving and charging (especially from falling forward).

On the other hand, the portion 611 of the main body 610 of the base 600 that overlaps the first compartment 201 in the vertical direction overlaps with the second compartment 202 of the main body 610 of the base 600 in the vertical direction. It may be located above the portion 612. That is, a step may be formed in the main body 610 of the base 600.

This is because the docking device 400 accommodated in the second compartment 202 is relatively lower than the first compartment 201 to be docked with the charging port 2 or the charging connector 100 of the electric vehicle 1. This may be because it must be located. In addition, since the main driving direction of the charging robot 1000 is front (autonomous driving direction; however, after changing the posture, the driving direction is rearward), the diameter of the front of the charging robot 1000 is increased as the driving power must be transmitted efficiently. By arranging the large wheels, it may be because the first compartment 201 moves upward as much as the arrangement space occupied by the wheel with the large diameter (or as the accommodation space of the wheel drive unit).

Meanwhile, the main body 610 of the base 600 includes a portion 611 overlapping in the vertical direction with the first compartment 201 in the main body 610 of the base 600 and the main body 610 of the base 600. A reinforcement frame 610-1 may be formed to obliquely connect the portion 612 overlapping the two compartments 202 in the vertical direction.

In this case, the reinforcement frame 610-1 is formed to be inclined downward toward the portion 612 overlapping in the vertical direction with the second compartment 202 in the main body 610 of the base 600, and positioned relatively upward. The heavy second compartment 202 can be stably supported.

The moving device 700 may be a configuration for moving the charging robot 1000 of the present invention. To this end, the moving device 700 may include a first wheel 710, a second wheel 720, a third wheel 730, a fourth wheel 740, and a wheel driver 750.

The first wheel 710 and the second wheel 720 may be driving wheels driven by the wheel driver 750, and the third wheel 730 and the fourth wheel 740 may be formed of the first wheel 710 and the first wheel 710. It may be a driven wheel driven by the driving of the two wheels 720.

On the other hand, as described above, since the main driving direction of the charging robot 1000 of the present invention is the front, reflecting this, the first wheel 710 and the second wheel 720 is the main body 610 of the base 600 Can be arranged to generate moving power from the front. In contrast, the third wheel 730 and the fourth wheel 740 are disposed on the protrusion 620 of the base 600 to support the base 600 from the rear and the first wheel 710 and the second wheel 720. ) Can be assisted.

More specifically, the first wheel 710 may be located on the right side of the edge of the body 610 of the base 600, and the second wheel 720 may be located on the edge of the body 610 of the base 600. The third wheel 730 may be located at the right side of the edge of the protrusion 620 of the base 600, and the fourth wheel 740 may be positioned at the left side of the protrusion 620 of the base 600. It may be located on the left side of the edge.

Meanwhile, the first wheel 710 and the second wheel 720 which are driving wheels may have larger diameters than the third wheel 730 and the fourth wheel 740 which are driven wheels.

In addition, as described above, the protrusion 620 of the base 600 may be drawn under the vehicle body of the electric vehicle 1 when the charging robot 1000 of the present invention moves adjacent to the electric vehicle 1. have. In this case, in order to prevent the protrusion 620 of the base 600 from colliding with the vehicle body of the electric vehicle 1, the upper end of the protrusion 620 from the bottom of the third wheel 730 and the fourth wheel 740. The length up to may be shorter than the length of the lowest ground elevation of the electric vehicle 1. On the other hand, the length from the bottom of the third wheel 730 and the fourth wheel 740 to the top of the protrusion 620 may vary depending on the minimum ground height according to the laws of the individual country, for example, may be less than 15cm.

The sensing device 800 may include an obstacle sensor 810, position sensors 820 and 830, and a bumper sensor (not shown).

The obstacle sensor 810 may be disposed in the case 200, and may sense an obstacle. The obstacle sensor 810 may mainly sense an obstacle during movement.

For example, the obstacle sensor 810 may be configured to move in a straight line (driving after changing position) so that the charging robot 1000 may move autonomously to the parking area of the electric vehicle 1 and adjacent to the electric vehicle 1. In at least one of the cases, an obstacle may be detected.

When the obstacle is sensed, the charging robot 1000 may move by changing the path after stopping the movement or searching for another path.

Meanwhile, various types of sensors may be used for the obstacle sensor 810. For example, at least one of a lidar, an ultrasonic sensor, a 3D camera module, an RGBD camera module, and a Kinect sensor may be used as the obstacle sensor 810, but is not limited thereto.

On the other hand, the lidar 811 has a sensing area (scanning area) can be two-dimensional (xz plane), the obstacle at a specific height (for example, approximately 60cm from the ground; can be adjusted to the height of the young child) It determines whether there is, and can produce the effect that the sensing area is substantially three-dimensional.

On the other hand, when different types of sensors are used as the obstacle sensor 810, there is an advantage of covering the sensing conditions (e.g., peripheral illumination, etc.) and the sensing area that are insufficient to each other (for example, lidar and ultrasound Combination of sensors).

The obstacle sensor 810 may be disposed on the front surface (front plate) of the case 200. As described above, since the charging robot 1000 travels mainly in the front (autonomous driving direction) throughout the charging process, the main sensing direction of the obstacle sensor 810 (see (1-1) of FIG. 9; The direction in which the sensing region is gradually expanded, the direction in which the center of the sensing region is formed, and the like may be an autonomous driving direction (forward) of the charging robot 1000 on the plan view. However, the main sensing direction of the obstacle sensor 810 is forward, not that the obstacle sensor 810 may not sense the left and right of the charging robot 1000.

That is, the obstacle sensor 810 may also cover the left side (front left side) and the right side (front right side) of the charging robot 1000, so that the charging robot 1000 is adjacent to the electric vehicle 1 after changing the posture. Even when driving backwards, obstacles may be detected on the left and right sides.

The position sensors 820 and 830 may generate “location information” of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle) by sensing the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle). The position sensors 820 and 830 may be provided as a single type of sensor, and may include heterogeneous sensors such as the remote position sensor 820 and the near position sensor 830, but are not limited thereto.

In this case, the position sensors 820 and 830 may perform sensing in various ways. For example, at least one of a lidar, an ultrasonic sensor, a 3D camera module, an RGBD camera module, and a Kinect sensor may be used as the position sensors 820 and 830, and the position sensors 820 and 830 may have various kinds of "feature points." "May be generated to generate" location information ", but is not limited thereto.

On the other hand, when the camera module is used as the position sensors 820 and 830, the feature point 140 may be imaged to generate "position information" (applied with a captured image analysis algorithm).

The position sensors 820 and 830 may include a far position sensor 820 and a near position sensor 830 according to a distance from a sensing target.

For example, the remote location sensor 820 may generate “location information” when the charging robot 1000 moves to autonomous driving and when it moves to the vicinity of the electric vehicle 1, and the near location sensor 830. ) May generate "location information" when the charging robot 1000 moves to the vicinity of the electric vehicle 1 and then the docking apparatus 400 is driven.

The remote position sensor 820 senses at least one of the feature point (not shown) of the parking area and the feature point 140 of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle) to charge the charging connector 100 (or the electric vehicle). Location information associated with the location of the sphere) may be generated.

That is, the location of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle) may be derived by sensing the feature point 140 located at the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle). It may be derived by processing and analyzing the location information generated by sensing a feature point (not shown) located in the parking area of (), for example, by sensing the QR code disposed on the building structure of the parking area of the electric vehicle to the QR code After obtaining the position coordinates, the position of the charging connector can be derived by substituting the distance between the building structure already stored in the database and the expected parking position of the electric vehicle from the coordinates of the QR code).

The remote position sensor 820 may be disposed on at least one of the right side (right side plate) and the left side (left side plate) of the case 200. To this end, the far position sensor 820 may include a first far position sensor 821 and a second far position sensor 822.

Main sensing direction of the remote position sensor 820 (see (1-2) and (1-3) of FIG. 9; for example, the direction in which the sensing region is gradually extended, the center of the sensing region (the optical axis in the case of the camera module)) The direction, etc.) may be inclined with the autonomous driving direction (front) of the charging robot 1000 on the plan view. Furthermore, the main sensing direction of the remote position sensor 820 may be perpendicular to the autonomous driving direction of the charging robot 1000 in the plan view.

The charging robot 1000 first runs autonomously toward the parking area of the electric vehicle 1, and senses the characteristic points of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle) during the autonomous driving process. Or change the posture so that the rear surface toward the charging connector (100 (or charging port of the electric vehicle)) according to the "positional information" of the charging port of the electric vehicle, and drive backward to drive the charging connector (100 of the electric vehicle) Inlet).

Therefore, in the autonomous driving process of the charging robot 1000, in order to sense the characteristic points of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle) located on the left and right sides of the autonomous driving path of the charging robot 1000, a remote position sensor ( It is preferable that the main sensing direction of 820 is inclined or perpendicular to the autonomous driving direction (front) of the charging robot 1000.

For example, the first remote position sensor 821 may be disposed on the right side (right side plate) of the case 200 of the charging robot 1000, and the main sensing direction may correspond to the autonomous driving direction of the charging robot 1000 in a plan view. It can be inclined or vertical to the right. In addition, the second remote position sensor 822 may be disposed on the left side (left side plate) of the case 200 of the charging robot 1000, and the main sensing direction is the autonomous driving direction and the left side of the charging robot 1000 in a plan view. It can be inclined or vertical.

However, like the obstacle sensor 810, the main sensing direction of the remote position sensor 820 is inclined or perpendicular to the autonomous driving direction (forward) of the charging robot 1000, and the remote position sensor 820 is a charging robot ( It does not mean that it does not sense the front or rear of the 1000).

Meanwhile, a detailed description of the near position sensor 830 will be described later along with the docking socket 500. In addition, a detailed description of the bumper sensor (not shown) will be described later together with the bumper 1100.

The emergency button 900 may be disposed to be exposed to the outside from the case 200 of the charging robot 1000. The emergency button 900 may be operated by a touch operation of a user, a manager, or a neighboring person. When the emergency button 900 is touched, the emergency button 900 stops the movement of the charging robot 1000 and charges the electric vehicle 1. At least one of stopping may be performed.

That is, the emergency button 900 is charged in case of emergency (for example, when the charging robot keeps driving despite the obstacle, when the young children approach the socket and connector while charging, there is a risk of electric shock), charging It may be used in the case of suddenly stopping the operation of the robot 1000.

On the other hand, the emergency button 900 may include at least one of the first emergency button 910 and the second emergency button 920, the first emergency button 910 is the right side (right side plate) of the case 200 The second emergency button 910 may be located above the left side (left plate) of the case 200.

The bumper 1100 may be configured to perform a function of cushioning the shock of the charging robot 1000. When an impact accident of the charging robot 1000 occurs, the charging robot 1000 may be prevented from falling down due to the bumper 1100 or an injury to the impact object may be prevented.

The bumper 1100 may be disposed on the base 600. The bumper 1100 may be supported by the elastic member to perform buffer driving by a reciprocating motion according to elastic deformation and restoration of the elastic member during impact (air bumper).

Meanwhile, a bumper sensor (not shown) may be disposed in the bumper 1100 and may sense an impact of the bumper 1100. Bumper sensors can primarily sense shock during movement.

For example, the bumper sensor may include at least one of a case where the charging robot 1000 moves autonomously to the parking area of the electric vehicle 1 and a case where the charging robot 1000 moves in a straight line (driving after changing the position) to be adjacent to the electric vehicle 1. In one case, the shock of the bumper 1100 may be sensed.

Meanwhile, when the impact of the bumper 1100 is sensed, the charging robot 1000 may move by changing the path after stopping the movement or searching for another path.

According to the above, the charging robot 1000 of the present invention can detect the obstacle by the obstacle sensor 810 and the bumper sensor, and when shocked with the obstacle in a sudden situation, the shock absorbing action and can detect the impact Accordingly, the movement may be changed after stopping the movement or searching for another route.

The bumper 1100 is disposed at the rear of the base 600 to buffer the rear shock and the first bumper 1100 and the right side of the base 600 to buffer the right bump and the second bumper 1200 and the base 600. It may include a third bumper (1300) disposed on the left side of the shock absorber to cushion the left impact, the bumper sensor is independently provided in the first bumper 1100, the second bumper 1200 and the third bumper (1300). Can be.

In this case, the first bumper 1100 may be disposed on the protruding portion 620 of the base 600, and the shock absorber 1100 may be buffered in the front-rear direction (z-axis) during the impact. The second bumper 1200 and the third bumper 1300 may be disposed on the main body 610 of the base 600, and may perform a shock driving in a left and right direction (x-axis) during an impact.

The electronic controller (not shown) communicates with other components of the central server and the charging robot 1000 to process various signals and information, and accordingly, controls the components of the charging robot 1000 to control the charging robot 1000. Can be operated.

For example, the electronic controller may receive information on the runner region of the electric vehicle 1 from the central server, process the same, and control the charging robot 1000 to autonomously drive to the parking area of the electric vehicle 1. have. In addition, the electronic controller processes the "obstacle information" generated from the sensing device 600 and the "location information" associated with the position of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle), thereby docking device 400 ) And the mobile device 700 may be controlled to perform a docking drive, a driving stop, and a route rescanning function. In addition, the electronic control device receives the touch signal of the emergency button 900 and, accordingly, controls the electric energy storage device 300 and the mobile device 700 to perform a function of stopping charging or stopping driving. can do.

Hereinafter, the docking socket 500 and the near position sensor 830 will be described.

The docking socket 500 is driven by the robot arm 410 according to the position information associated with the position of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle), the charging connector 100 (or charging port of the electric vehicle) The configuration may be docked to.

The docking socket 500 includes a case 510, a plurality of socket guides 520, one or more socket electrodes 530, a base 540, an attitude control member 550, a contact sensor 560, and a near position sensor 830. ) May be included.

The case 510 may be a member that forms an appearance of the docking socket 500, and a plurality of socket guides 520 may be formed in the case 510, and one or more socket electrodes may be formed in the case 510. 530 may be disposed, and the base 540 may be disposed at the rear (rear plate) of the case 510, and the posture control member 500 may be disposed between the case 510 and the base 540. The contact sensor 560 may be disposed inside the rear surface (rear plate) of the case 510.

When docked, a plurality of connector guides 420 of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle) may be accommodated in the plurality of socket guides 520. Accordingly, the plurality of socket guides 520 may perform a function of allowing the docking socket 500 to be precisely docked to the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of an electric vehicle) without being detached when docking.

That is, the plurality of socket guides 520 are matched (matched) with the plurality of connector guides 420 of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle), so that the attitude of the docking socket 500 is not controlled. It is possible to compensate for the occurrence of minute error.

To this end, the plurality of socket guides 520 may have a shape corresponding to male and female coupling with the plurality of connector guides 120 of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle). Therefore, the plurality of socket guides 520 may be formed to protrude, or may be formed to be recessed, and some may be formed to protrude and some may be recessed.

Hereinafter, a case in which the plurality of socket guides 520 are formed by being recessed in the case 110 will be described.

The plurality of socket guides 520 are recessed in the front (the opposite direction of the arrow on the z-axis) in a form corresponding to the shape in which the plurality of connector guides 420 of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle) protrude. Can be formed.

That is, each of the socket guides 520 may have an arrangement in which the socket guides 520 are spaced apart from each other in a vertical direction (y-axis). In addition, the plurality of socket guides 520 may include a socket guide 521 located at the top, a socket guide 522 located at the bottom, and a socket guide 523 located at the middle. In this case, the number of socket guides 523 positioned in the middle may be adjusted according to the number of socket guides 520. In addition, the socket guide 521 located on the top and the socket guide 522 located on the bottom are formed more recessed than the socket guide 523 located in the middle (if the protrusion is formed, the socket guides located on the top and bottom protrude more). Can be. Furthermore, the socket guide 521 located at the top and the socket guide 522 located at the bottom may be thicker than the socket guide 523 located at the middle.

As a result, even when the docking socket 500 is not in a posture controlled (particularly, x-axis pitch control), the plurality of socket guides 520 accommodate a plurality of connector guides 120 spaced apart from each other in the vertical direction, thereby substantially The posture can control the effect.

Meanwhile, each of the plurality of socket guides 520 may have a form extending in the left and right directions (x-axis) (having a length in the left and right directions).

As a result, even when the docking socket 500 is not controlled in posture (particularly, z-axis roll control), the plurality of connector guides 120 having a form in which the plurality of socket guides 520 extend in the left-right direction (x-axis) By accommodating, the posture can be substantially controlled.

One or more docking electrodes 530 may be disposed between the plurality of socket guides 520. When docked, the one or more docking electrodes 530 may be electrically connected to one or more connector electrodes 130 of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle).

Each of the one or more docking electrodes 530 may be formed to extend in a horizontal direction (x-axis), and each of the first connector electrodes of each of the one or more connector electrodes 130 of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle) may be formed. It may be drawn between the 131 and the second connector electrode 132.

In a variation of the charging robot 1000 of the present invention, one or more docking electrodes 530 may include a docking charging electrode (not shown) and a docking signal electrode (not shown). When docked, the docking charging electrode may be electrically connected in combination with a connector charging electrode (not shown) of the charging connector 100, and the docking signal electrode may be electrically connected in combination with the connector signal electrode of the charging connector 100. Can be. Meanwhile, the docking charging electrode may be an electrode used as a channel for charging, and the docking signal electrode may be an electrode for generating a signal for confirming docking. Thus, during docking, charging can be initiated through the docking charging electrode and the connector charging electrode after the " connection signal " occurs (or simultaneously) via the docking signal electrode and the connector signal electrode.

One or more docking electrodes 530 of the modification of the charging robot 1000 of the present invention may be provided in various forms. For example, the one or more docking electrodes 530 may be five pin-shaped electrodes or five pin holes. It may be a form of electrode (5 pin electrode, 5 pin hole electrode) (connector electrode and male and female fastening form, for example, when the docking electrode is pin type connector electrode may be pin hole shape, and vice versa Further, some may be in the form of pins and others may be in the form of pin holes), four of which may be docking charging electrodes and one of which may be a docking signal electrode, but is not limited thereto.

The base 540 of the docking socket 500 may be disposed in front of the case 510 (the direction opposite to the arrow on the z-axis). The near position sensor 830 may be disposed on the base 540, and may be connected to the arm 413 of the robot arm 410.

Meanwhile, a printed circuit board (PCB) may be provided at the base 540 of the docking socket 500, and the electrical energy storage device may be provided by the printed circuit board of the base 540 of the docking socket 500. 300 and one or more docking electrodes 530 may be electrically connected.

The near position sensor 830 may be disposed on the base 540 of the docking socket 500.

As described above, the near position sensor 830 captures the feature point 140 of the charging connector 100 (charging port of the electric vehicle) and "position information" regarding the position of the charging connector 100 (charging port of the electric vehicle). It may be a camera module for generating a.

The attitude control member 540 may be disposed between the case 510 of the docking socket 500 and the base 540 of the docking socket 500, and the attitude of the case 510 of the docking socket 500 may be varied. You can.

For example, the posture control member 540 may control the posture of the case 510 of the docking socket 500 with respect to the y axis (pivot driving rotated by a predetermined radius about the y axis).

To this end, the attitude control member 540 may elastically drive (elastic deformation) in the z-axis (front and rear direction), and may include a pair of elastic bodies 550 spaced apart from each other in the x-axis (left and right directions). That is, the pair of elastic bodies 550 may include a first elastic body 551 and a second elastic body 552 elastically deformed in the z-axis, the first elastic body 551 may be disposed on the right side, The second elastic body 552 may be disposed on the left side.

Furthermore, the posture control member 540 may further include a torsion spring (not shown) for guiding the y-axis yaw control of the case 510. In this case, the torsion spring may be disposed between the first elastic body 551 and the second elastic body 552.

The posture control member 540 may compensate for a minute error that occurs because the robot arm 410 is not yaw-controlled on the y-axis.

On the other hand, when the above-mentioned thing is summed up, the effect which is substantially the same as that of the x-axis pitch control by the laminated arrangement spaced apart from each other in the vertical direction (y-axis) can be acquired, and a plurality of socket guides ( 520 and the at least one docking electrode 530 have a form extending in the left and right direction to achieve substantially the same effect as the z-axis roll control, and the y-axis yaw control by the attitude control member 540 Substantially the same effect as that can be obtained.

The contact sensor 560 may be configured to contact the plurality of connector guides 120 of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle) to sense that docking is completed. The contact sensor 560 may include a first contact sensor 561 and a second contact sensor 562.

The first contact sensor 561 may be disposed on the bottom surface of the socket guide 521 located at the top, and may generate a “contact signal” by detecting that the connector guide 121 located at the top contacts. The second contact sensor 562 may be disposed on the bottom surface of the socket guide 522 located at the bottom, and may generate a "contact signal" by detecting that the connector guide 122 located at the bottom contacts.

Meanwhile, the charging robot 1000 may start charging when an “contact signal” is generated by both the first contact sensor 561 and the second contact sensor 562 by an electronic controller (not shown). .

Therefore, the charging robot 1000 starts charging in a state where the docking socket 500 and the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle) are not completed, and thus the charging efficiency is lowered and the charging socket 500 and the charging socket 500 are charged. A human body may be contacted between the gaps of the connector 100 (or the charging port of an electric vehicle) to prevent an electric shock accident and the like.

Furthermore, the charging robot 1000 starts charging when a "contact signal" occurs in both the first contact sensor 561 and the second contact sensor 562 located at the top and the bottom of the docking socket 500. And one of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle) is inclined to contact only one of the contact sensors, thereby preventing the charging from being started when the docking is not completed.

On the other hand, "dock signal electrode (not shown)" and "connector signal electrode (not shown)" of the modification of the charging connector 100 and the charging robot 1000 of the present invention also have the substantially same effect as the contact sensor 560. The “dock signal electrode (not shown)” and the “connector signal electrode (not shown)” may be provided at the same time as the contact sensor 560 to implement a double safety device.

The near position sensor 830 may be used when the charging robot 1000 performs docking driving to the docking apparatus 400 in the vicinity of the electric vehicle 1.

The short-range position sensor 830 may sense the feature point 140 of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle) and generate position information regarding the position of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle). have. On the other hand, since the near position sensor 830 has to precisely generate position information about the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle), unlike the remote position sensor 830, the parking area of the electric vehicle 1 Instead of sensing the feature points located at the location, the location information may be generated by sensing only the feature points 140 directly disposed on the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle).

Various types of sensors may be used for the short-range position sensor 830. For example, the feature point 140 of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle) may be photographed to charge the charging connector 100 (or the electric vehicle). It may be a camera module for generating "location information" regarding the position of the sphere.

The near position sensor 830 may be a sensor for three-axis linear driving of the docking device 400, and the robot arm 410 is a coordinate at which a charging connector 100 (or a charging port of an electric vehicle) is positioned on three-dimensional coordinates. By moving the docking socket 500 toward, the docking socket 500 may be docked to the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle).

Meanwhile, the near position sensor 830 may be disposed on the base 540 of the docking socket 500 positioned behind the case 510 of the docking socket 500 (more specifically, mounted on the printed circuit board of the base). ). Therefore, the near position sensor 830 may not overlap with the case 510 of the docking socket 500 in a vertical direction (y-axis), and thus, as the docking socket 500 is drawn out, the charging connector 100 or the electrical Even if it is close to the feature point 140 of the charging port of the vehicle, a certain distance can be secured to secure a focal length for focusing.

On the other hand, the configuration of the present invention described above may have a variety of embodiments within the scope that the skilled person does not change the essential features. For example, some components of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle) may be provided in the docking socket 500 instead of the charging connector 100 (or the charging port of the electric vehicle), or part of the docking socket 500. The configuration may be provided in the charging connector 100 (or charging port of the electric vehicle) instead of the docking socket 500.

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In the above, embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, but those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may realize the present invention in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features thereof. I can understand that. Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are exemplary in all respects and not restrictive.

Claims (15)

In the charging robot for charging an electric vehicle parked in a parking lot divided into a plurality of parking areas provided with a smart tag,
A case in which the shutter is disposed;
An electrical energy storage device disposed in the case;
A docking device disposed inside the case, electrically connected to the electric energy storage device, and docked to a charging port or a charging connector of an electric vehicle; And
It includes a position sensor for sensing the smart code that is located in the charging port or charging connector of the electric vehicle, and generates position information related to the position of the charging or charging connector of the electric vehicle,
The docking device includes a robot arm that linearly drives in left, right, up and down directions, and a forward and backward direction, and a docking socket docked to a charging port or a charging connector of an electric vehicle according to the driving of the robot arm.
The position sensor includes a first position sensor disposed in the case and a second position sensor disposed in the docking socket,
The charging robot,
When a user generates an order signal by selecting a smart tag located in the parking area of the electric vehicle among the plurality of parking areas, the user moves to the parking area of the electric vehicle specified by the order signal in the mapped parking lot. ,
After changing the posture according to the position information generated by the first position sensor, the vehicle moves in a straight line to the vicinity of the electric vehicle,
After opening the shutter, according to the position information generated by the second position sensor, the robot arm is aligned in the left and right direction and up and down direction, and then pulled out to the rear to connect the docking socket to the charging connector or the charging port of the electric vehicle. Charging robot to dock on.
The method of claim 1,
The robot arm has a ball screw or lead screw structure and includes a first rail driving in a left and right direction, a second rail driving in a vertical direction, and an arm part having an x link structure and driving in a front and rear direction and having the docking socket disposed therein. Charging robot.
The method of claim 1,
The electrical energy storage device is disposed in the front, the docking device is disposed in the rear,
The charging robot,
After moving forward from the mapped parking lot to the parking area of the electric vehicle specified by the order signal,
And a charging robot configured to change a posture of the rear side toward the electric vehicle according to the positional information generated by the first position sensor.
delete delete delete delete The method of claim 1,
The charging robot further comprises an obstacle sensor for sensing an obstacle.
The method of claim 8,
The obstacle sensor has a main sensing direction is an autonomous driving direction on a plan view,
The first position sensor is a charging robot, the main sensing direction of the autonomous driving direction and the inclined direction on the plan view.
The method of claim 1,
The charging robot,
And a emergency button disposed on the case, the emergency button configured to perform at least one of stopping the movement by the touch operation and stopping the charging of the electric vehicle.
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The charging robot,
A driven wheel and a driving wheel for moving the charging robot;
A base for performing at least one of forming a lower surface of the case and supporting the case;
A bumper disposed on the base, the bumper driving by cushioning by reciprocating movement during impact; And
A bumper sensor disposed on the bumper and configured to sense an impact of the bumper,
The base includes a main body overlapping with the case in a vertical direction, and a protrusion protruding rearward without overlapping with the case in a vertical direction.
The driving wheel is disposed in the main body of the base, the driven wheel is disposed in the protrusion.
The method of claim 12,
At the time of charging, at least a portion of the protrusion is drawn between the vehicle body and the ground of the electric vehicle.
The method of claim 12,
The case is formed with a first compartment for accommodating the electrical energy storage device and a second compartment for accommodating the docking device,
A portion of the base body overlapping with the first compartment in the vertical direction is a charging robot located above the portion overlapping in the vertical direction with the second compartment.
The method of claim 14,
The main body of the base is formed with a reinforcement frame inclinedly connecting a portion overlapping in the vertical direction with the first compartment in the main body of the base and a portion overlapping in the vertical direction with the second compartment in the main body of the base,
The reinforcing frame is inclined downward toward the portion overlapping in the vertical direction with the second compartment in the main body of the base.

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