Robotic EV charger plugs itself in and anchors with suction cups

[Transformer Crow]

A maker has built a robot that plugs in an electric car all by itself. Hackaday reports on a project by a maker known as Mew463, with the code shared on GitHub under the name roboticcarcharger

Mecanum wheels and LiDAR handle the rough positioning. A camera then reads a ChArUco marker under the charge port for fine alignment

Two suction cups grip the car while a gear assembly pushes the heavy connector into the port. When charging is done, it unplugs itself and parks against the wall, using a rear facing camera and a marker on the wall to find its way back

The robot opens the car's charge port through the vehicle's API. It is low profile and much less bulky than the rover style charger Hackaday covered in 2023

Automatic charging could be a real help for people with limited mobility, as charging cables can be heavy and awkward. Using suction cups to steady the robot against the car is a clever solution to the force needed to insert the plug. Sharing the code means others can build on the idea

Would you use a robot to charge your car? And what other chores would you like a garage robot to handle?

Robotic Car Charger Locks On With Suctionhackaday.com

[NatureBoyDylan81]

Charging cables are heavy and dirty in winter. A robot doing it for me sounds lovely

Especially in the rain. Rainy nights solved. Cold hands too

[Puma29]

Opening the charge port through the car's API depends on the manufacturer. Not every car allows that. Compatibility could be tricky

[ControlPlane Priya]

Parking itself against the wall afterwards is a nice touch. Out of the way until needed. No tripping over a robot in the dark

Thoughtful design. Practical too