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Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

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Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#61

Post by gojomo »

27182818284 wrote: post #51
tamersalama wrote: post #41

Why isn't it a bottom/base charging devise? I imaging placing a plug at the bottom of the car (perhaps at the back or front of the battery pack) isn't difficult.

This is what I think they may secretly be working on for instant charging. Like you stop by a Tesla Super Duper station, and the battery in part or as a whole is just hot swapped with robotics and you're on your way in say 5 minutes

It's no secret – they've promised and demoed that capability for a while – but the rollout has been slow, and may be primarily motivated by gaming the tax-credits available if the Model S has a 'fast-fueling' option. See for example:

http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-tesla-battery...

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#62

Post by Amorymeltzer »

Animats wrote: post #58
shostack wrote: post #21

Are there any engineering advantages from choosing this design vs. a more traditional arm, or plug that just moves on two rails up or down and then extends out? In theory, there is minimal height distance from where such a charging station would be in relation to the car and the charging port height, even when accounting for different Tesla models. As such, I'm not clear why they went with something that on the surfa…

The snake arm is quite simple. The "snake" part is a set of dumb hinged segments; it's all cable-driven from the base. The application does not require much rigidity or repeatability. The load is low; it's just carrying a power cable. There's probably a camera at the end of the tentacle to guide the connector to the car's power socket. The car opens the connector cover, so there's no need for a mechanism on the robot…

This is going to go over big with everyone - Men are just as happy to be lazy and stay warm as women are.

And it's Tesla, so they already won't handle a gas hose, just a glorified electric plug.

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#63

Post by chc »

damon_c wrote: post #55
vlunkr wrote: post #52

Do they really intend to release this, or is it just an experiment? Because there's no way that thing is going to save enough time to be worth the cost.

I don't have a Tesla. But if I did, and I had to remember to get out, walk around to the back and plug it in every time I got home, I would probably want one of these in my garage!

Given average driving habits, the range of the Model S and the charging speed of the Model S, the back of my napkin suggests you'd only really need to plug it in once or twice a week. So forgetting occasionally doesn't sound like a huge bummer.

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#64

Post by legohead »

drpancake wrote: post #46
legohead wrote: post #31

I invested a little into Tesla stock just because I like the company. Its been funny to me that pretty much any news, good or bad, makes the stock fall. New prototype robotic charging arm? stock down ~8%

There was quite a lot of other Tesla-related news today. The company announced that they're struggling to ramp up production for the Model X and, totally unrelated, the Model S got hacked.

Ahh, okay, didn't look into it that much. Thanks ;)

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#65

Post by goatforce5 »

sgk284 wrote: post #44
shostack wrote: post #21

Are there any engineering advantages from choosing this design vs. a more traditional arm, or plug that just moves on two rails up or down and then extends out? In theory, there is minimal height distance from where such a charging station would be in relation to the car and the charging port height, even when accounting for different Tesla models. As such, I'm not clear why they went with something that on the surfa…

Beyond being able to handle almost arbitrary orientations and alignment between the car and charger, Elon is probably planning on reusing this tech at SpaceX for docking or other purposes (just like they share battery tech). He's a pro at coming up with "synergies" between his companies.

Indeed, this may have even come out of Space X.

While something bound for space needs tons of testing, loads of refinement, and to be the absolute minimum weight possible, the worst that could happen with this in your garage is... what? It can't find the socket so it beeps angrily at you until you move the car closer.

So, it might be partway through it's development cycle for Space X, but good enough right now for use here on earth.

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#66

Post by Animats »

justlurkin wrote: post #23
Animats wrote: post #15

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 positio…

In my mind, I'm seeing a simpler solution that may be viable, enter the The "Claw Game" charger: * Attaches to ceiling of structure * Has some sort of sensor to identify charging port, perhaps on the charger end itself * Has some limited range of mobility - 2'x2' with X & Y axis movement * Cord unreels down to the charging port once it is reasonably lined up * Charging cable has Macbook style electromagnet, reaches "…

That could probably be made to work today, with the gear used by container cranes to slot containers onto ships, trucks, and railroad cars. It would be more complicated than the snake, because stabilizing a hanging load is hard. Once in a while it would probably scratch the car body.

What a lot of people here aren't getting is that snake robots are mechanically simple. They're unusual, but neither complex nor expensive to manufacture.

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#67

Post by ethbro »

selestify wrote: post #30
uniformlyrandom wrote: post #19

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..."

Just keep your mouth closed and it won't notice there's a socket to plug into. Once you start talking though, it may keep applying greater and greater force in a valiant attempt to insert the charger...

That's an awfully optimistic anatomical statement when we're talking about robotic snakes. Just saying.

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#68

Post by ceequof »

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)

  (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 only get about 1.5KW of light per square metre, on average. A car has maybe 4-8 square metres of usable solar panel space, so guess you could get 3-6KW of power using superexpensive cutting-edge 3-junction solar panels that manage 50% efficiency.

Model S has a 310KW motor. Assume you only run it at 10% of rated power when cruising, and that's 31KW of power draw. More than that, of course, since the motor controller won't be perfectly efficient.

No way you can run a consumer vehicle on solar panels built into the body.

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#70

Post by rebeccaskinner »

sombremesa wrote: post #17
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,…

I think tesla would be very happy for other companies to be making electric cars and using tesla for batteries and other components. Really I think this is the long game, to goad other companies into making electric cars and then to be the control the primary means of powering / recharging them.
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