DEVELOPMENT OF A MANIPULATOR FOR FULLY AUTOMATED THE PROCESS OF CHARGING ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Abstract

Electric cars are gradually gaining popularity both in the world and in Ukraine. But in order for them to be freely used throughout the country, an appropriate infrastructure is needed. Unlike traditional cars with internal combustion engines, electric cars can be refuelled anywhere there is access to an electrical outlet. The main problems of electric cars during their operation over long distances are related to the duration of the journey on one charge and the low development of the infrastructure for them. Systems of automated charging stations are also gradually developing. There are already terminals of charging stations with payment by bank card and other payment systems, but they work on the principle of self-service. For full automation of the charging process, connecting the charging station to the electric car without human intervention is not enough. Wireless charging can solve this problem, but at this stage of development, the power transferred in this way is not always enough. To solve this problem, a combination of a manipulator arm and a typical charging station was proposed. The manipulator will determine the vehicle's position and insert the charging station's socket into the car's plug using sensors and machine vision. As part of this work, we made a conceptual project of a manipulator that will automatically connect the connector of the charging station to the car. Also, for this charging complex, a system of monitoring and protection of the electrical connection of the charger with the consumer against short circuit, overheating, sparking and arcing connector was developed, taking into account various interchangeable connectors. When developing the manipulator's arms, the following tasks were taken into account: ensuring sufficient kinematic freedom of movement to cover the working area of the charging station service and maximally simplifying the design. To reliably ensure access to any point of the working space, a kinematic scheme with two translational and three rotational links was used. Next, to determine the position of the manipulator in the workspace, the direct and inverse kinematics problems for this scheme were solved. The physical model of the manipulator along with servomotors, PID controllers and control system based on the equations of kinematics problems was simulated in the Matlab application software package. The implementation of a machine vision system and a switching device protection system is proposed for a full-fledged control system of the automated charging station. The resulting design of the automated charging station is experimental and does not have many analogues in the world. The modularity of the design ensures the versatility of its use at other types of charging stations, as well as the possibility of its modernization.