Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake • Hacker News Board

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#81

Post by aidenn0 » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 9:35 PM UTC

sandworm101 wrote: post #78

Really? Is the need to get out and hook up the hose yourself really what's holding back electric cars? There is certainly a cool factor with this thing, but think about how it will work at a real fuel/charging station. The driver will only ever see it in a mirror. And it looks like the range of motion is very limited, requiring the plug to be within a 30x30cm box. A later model will probably have a greater range of m…

A common argument against EVs I've heard repeated is "Sometimes I forget to plug in my cell-phone, and it dies mid-day. What happens if I forget to plug in my car?"

This will address that concern, as silly as it is.

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#82

Post by notNow » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 9:39 PM UTC

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..."

In a British accent too to make it all the more frightening

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#83

Post by stilldavid » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 9:41 PM UTC

sandworm101 wrote: post #78

Really? Is the need to get out and hook up the hose yourself really what's holding back electric cars? There is certainly a cool factor with this thing, but think about how it will work at a real fuel/charging station. The driver will only ever see it in a mirror. And it looks like the range of motion is very limited, requiring the plug to be within a 30x30cm box. A later model will probably have a greater range of m…

It's difficult to know the target space needed for this rev of the device. Also, it's probably less than 30cm vertically - I'm quite sure some engineers at Tesla know the height of the charge port, even given the differences with the air suspension.

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#84

Post by gboudrias » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 9:42 PM UTC

corysama wrote: post #12

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.

This is incredibly uncanny.

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#85

Post by dewarrn1 » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 9:43 PM UTC

Interesting idea. Before Shai Agassi's electric car company (Better Place) folded there was talk of a similar motorized arm [0]. I don't know whether that ever got past the discussion stage at BP, and they're out of business in any event.

[0] http://archive.wired.com/cars/futuretransport/magazine/16-09...

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#86

Post by derefr » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 9:44 PM UTC

Animats wrote: post #66

justlurkin wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 expensi…

Would the claw still work if it was coated in soft rubber?

Alternately, I'm imagining the cute-but-ridiculous solution of making the claw and the car magnetically repel one another, so as it the claw plumb-bobs downward and swings toward the car, it just sort of naturally veers away from the surface, rocking around it in an arc until it stabilizes.

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#87

Post by tamal » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 9:45 PM UTC

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…

The huge benefit will be when this is used in conjunction with the self parking system. You drive up to the front of your house, get out, and the car drives itself into the garage and plugs itself in.

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#88

Post by daveloyall » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 9:45 PM UTC

daveloyall wrote: post #77

Tesla cars will be self-driving soon, right? Let's call such cars 'robots'. Isn't there some convention against allowing robots to re-fuel without human intervention? Isn't such a rule in the same class as the rule against giving them the keys to the armory?

I'm just saying, in a world where self-driving cars go rouge, we're gonna want to deny them access to charging stations, and the charging snakes make it just that much harder.

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#89

Post by granos » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 9:46 PM UTC

notNow wrote: post #82

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..."

In a British accent too to make it all the more frightening

Wheatley's voice

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#90

Post by bendykstra » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 9:48 PM UTC

corysama wrote: post #12

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.

I bet if you exposed another mammal like a monkey or a cat to that recharging tentacle, it would be frightened by it too. We are wired to be afraid of snakes and snaky things. It's one of the most common phobias. Sci-fi horror merely tapped into that fear.