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

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#91

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

qq66 wrote: post #27

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…

I assume the purpose is for a driver to just pull into the garage and have the charger hook up automatically, so a two-rail system would probably not be able to deal with the car being parked at a slight angle and not completely perpendicular to the plug.

The dead-simple solution for aligning the car is to make it drive onto alignment rails. Or, given that it can auto-park, just give it an auto-pump-align routine based on that.

The true benefit of a "smart pump-side alignment" system, I think, is that it copes with different models of vehicles (e.g. EV SUVs, EV 18-wheelers, etc.), with their charging ports in different places and orientations.

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#92

Post by bane » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 9:50 PM UTC

This is pretty cool, I kind of wish it pulsed a little, like it was feeding, while it's plugged in and charging.

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#93

Post by sandworm101 » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 9:50 PM UTC

aidenn0 wrote: post #81

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.

So it will seek out and plug in without driver input? I guess that would only work if they are in everyone's garage. Isn't there a smartphone ap that can remind owners if they part at home without connecting?

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#94

Post by brianstorms » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 9:52 PM UTC

Can you imagine how pets are going to react to this?

A real-world use-case involves this in a garage, and you pull into the garage (or tell the car to) and it parks and then this snake starts its dance and finds the chargeport and connects and starts charging... and your dog goes completely ape-shit. And barks and shrieks and jumps and snaps its teeth and gets a nice vise-grip with the snake in its jaws and next thing you know, just like in cartoons, you suddenly see a black silhouette of the dog and inside the silhouette the white skeleton bones of said dog flashing brightly as it electrocutes itself at 80 amps and 240 volts. Tesla 1, Dog 0.

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#95

Post by smokinjoe » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 10:05 PM UTC

For whatever reason this immediately made me think of NJ's laws requiring an attendant to fill up your gas tank. Does the law apply to electric charging stations currently?

If it does, I wonder what this innovation might mean to that law.

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#96

Post by eric_h » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 10:08 PM UTC

bendykstra wrote: post #90

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.

> We are wired to be afraid of snakes and snaky things

Are we really wired for it, though? I've personally never had that fear.

Perhaps it's a little more nurture than nature?

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#97

Post by waterlesscloud » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 10:09 PM UTC

rebeccaskinner wrote: post #70

sombremesa wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Didn't Tesla open source their patents? I think I read at the time that would allow others to make recharging plugs that adhered to Tesla's standards.

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#98

Post by dkokelley » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 10:10 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…

While most if not all "concept technology" has its roots in the "we can do it, even if we don't know why we should" school of thought, I imagine this will be valuable for self driving cars. Imagine a car that can drop you off at work, drive itself to the closest robo-charger, and return to pick you up with a full charge, all without needing an attendant.

Given the current limited range of EVs, tech like this will likely encourage behavioral change in EV owners, reducing one of the negatives of EVs (forgetting to charge/not having enough charge to make it to your destination/having to remember to plug in every night), and ultimately spurring wider adoption.

Then again, sometimes you have to say "I wonder if we could..." before you fully understand why in order to advance technology.

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#99

Post by mhb » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 10:11 PM UTC

bendykstra wrote: post #90

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.

Kids and adults are OK with stuffed lions and tigers. How does that fit in with the wiring theory?

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#100

Post by waterlesscloud » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 10:11 PM UTC

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.

The advantage isn't the time saved, it's that you can erase the need to charge your car from your mind. You just don't need to think about it any more.

Also, the flexibility of the thing hints to me that it will be used for charging more than just cars in the future.