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Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#11

Post by mtgx »

slxh wrote: post #5
GeorgeOrr wrote: post #2

That is an interesting video to watch. I immediately imagine a self driving car, on its way to pick me up, swinging by this robot arm to charge up. I wonder if it would be possible for something like this to provide a charge while moving? Like airplanes that can be fueled in the air. I suspect the energy to keep the charger itself moving would make that a pretty inefficient way of doing things, but it's fun to imagin…

Very cool tech indeed. A battery swap while on the move might be more efficient/faster then a charge on the move. (But it would be nice if the next-gen solar panels installed on a car would be efficient enough to provide enough power for a car drive)

You mean like this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5V0vL3nnHY

And I doubt solar panels would ever be used for charging the whole car in a very significant way, even if they had 80% efficiency.

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#12

Post by corysama »

The gif is sped up. This vid is actual speed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMM0lRfX6YI

I think it's awesome. But, it obvious that the current implementation will inspire the creeps in lots of people. Sci-fi horror has put an unfortunate bad rap on robotic tentacles and chromed vertebrae.

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#13

Post by TranquilMarmot »

Why do they want me to enter my email address to continue reading? I had to delete 3 HTML nodes to get past their "drawbridge"...

Here's the gif for anyone who doesn't want to deal with the (totally useless) article: https://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/files/2015/0...

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#14

Post by tormeh »

I've long been disappointed that, even as far as we've come, most robots or moving computer-controlled things have been a box with something going round on it (car, washing machine etc.) or sometimes back and forth along a straight line. This therefore pleases me greatly.

(and it totally gives me the creeps)

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#15

Post by Animats »

Nice. Robotic fueling has been done before [1][2], but this is much less clunky. This looks like the OC Robotics snake robot.[3] Finally, a use for snake robots, which have been around for 25 years but are not used much. Tesla has a good application for this - the car end is cooperative and standard. The car's parking guidance system can be programmed to recognize visual targets and get itself into the proper position.

The mechanism is simple. There are many linear actuators in the base pulling on cables that run through the snake segments and attach to plates at the joints.[4] Cable wear is a common problem, but that can be overcome. Charging robots won't cycle that fast; tens of cycles per hour, not thousands.

[1] http://fuelmatics.com/videos-2/video-demonstration/ [2] http://www.robosoft.com/robotic-solutions/transport--logisit... [3] http://www.ocrobotics.com/ [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTkmyDO2ubs

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#16

Post by Negitivefrags »

Somehow this feels like an overcomplicated / expensive solution given that they control both the car and the charger. How much would it cost to install a robosnake in my garage.

Could they put a charging port on the back of the car that you back onto something? Or something on the floor that you drive over? There has to be a cheaper solution. If a Roomba can do it we must be able to.

I mean, that wouldn't be backwards compatible with existing teslas but I wouldn't think the installed base would be so high that that is a big issue yet.

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#17

Post by sombremesa »

Negitivefrags wrote: post #16

Somehow this feels like an overcomplicated / expensive solution given that they control both the car and the charger. How much would it cost to install a robosnake in my garage. Could they put a charging port on the back of the car that you back onto something? Or something on the floor that you drive over? There has to be a cheaper solution. If a Roomba can do it we must be able to. I mean, that wouldn't be backward…

This probably isn't meant to be installed in your home. Additionally I think Tesla's philosophy has been to popularize electric cars first and foremost, regardless of whether it's their own cars, so designing proprietary stuff won't help.

Elon Musk in general seems to go for "inspire other people to make shit, even if I personally go down in flames in the end". Of course, that doesn't mean he takes unnecessary risks, he just values doing inspiring/world-changing things more than doing profitable things in the long term.

(Also this would probably be great for self-driving electric cars)

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#18

Post by slxh »

mtgx wrote: post #11
slxh wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very cool tech indeed. A battery swap while on the move might be more efficient/faster then a charge on the move. (But it would be nice if the next-gen solar panels installed on a car would be efficient enough to provide enough power for a car drive)

You mean like this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5V0vL3nnHY And I doubt solar panels would ever be used for charging the whole car in a very significant way, even if they had 80% efficiency.

Somewhat like this but while on the move

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#19

Post by uniformlyrandom »

After watching this GIF, I imagined what it would feel like walking past a charging station with this thing on it. How it slowly turns its 10KV-charged head towards me.

"- You definitely do look like a charging socket to me.

- I really do not. Look, I am human...

- No, you really do. You just need a quick charge..."

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