Uncrewed Systems Technology 043 l Auve Tech Iseauto taxi l Charging focus l Advanced Navigation Hydrus l UGVs insight l MVVS 116 l Windracers ULTRA l CES 2022 show report l ECUs focus I Distant Imagery

59 This pattern is continuing, with UGVs now being unveiled for ever more niche and ingenious applications, working in places that might seem peculiar but stand to make an immense difference to businesses and consumers alike. Parking lots For example, having a UGV wheeling around a car park might seem a good way to damage it and users’ vehicles. However, since installing new charging points for EVs can be extremely challenging in densely packed car parks, some businesses are looking into using autonomous ground robots as a mobile EV charging solution. With some collision avoidance capability and the right mechanisms for charging connectors and delivering power, such UGVs could dramatically reduce the burden on governments regarding new charging station installations, and mitigate drivers’ worries about reaching a power source before their batteries run out. To that end, researchers in the Institute of Automotive Engineering at TU Graz, in Austria, have collaborated with the UGV developers at ARTI Robots and e-mobility company Alveri to create and trial an autonomous EV charging robot. Although the project is still at an early stage, the idea is for the resulting vehicle to be produced by Alveri as the CHARbo charging robot, and supplied to parking lot administrators from which it will navigate to EVs and recharge them without the need for human intervention. The CHARbo prototype is a four- wheeled battery-electric platform with an automated robot arm that carries and plugs a charging cable into a car. The platform orients itself autonomously and approaches drivers’ vehicles at up to 20 kph, before the arm guides the connector to the charging flap and docks it there. After charging is complete, the robot unplugs itself and takes itself and the cable away from the vehicle. Before serial production though, numerous optimisations must first be completed. For instance, the UGV not only ferries a power cable to its target EV but uses it for its own power (a drive battery has not been integrated for weight, cost and ecological reasons). Alternative approaches such as ground-contact power sources are therefore being considered, as they might be more convenient. Also, a robotic arm optimised for cost savings and mechanical efficiency could be forthcoming. “There is currently no robotic arm on the market for this specific application,” says Helmut Brunner, scientific researcher at TU Graz. “We therefore used a conventional collaborative industrial robot arm, which allows movement in a very large radius. “However, we don’t need that much freedom of movement for the charging process, so there is still potential for less weight and lower costs. The use of such a system only really pays off when a single robot is responsible for several cars and covers a defined area in a parking garage, for example.” The nature of the UGV’s work in areas where people and cars move around will require legal and safety discussions as well, not to mention robust testing of its sensor architecture. At present, the platform uses Lidar to scan its surroundings for possible obstacles and to detect when an object gets too close, immediately stopping in response. A safety stop is also installed in UGVs | Insight Unmanned Systems Technology | April/May 2022 The Baubot UGVs are being developed to handle a range of construction tasks, including drilling holes and laying down custom-printed concrete blocks (Courtesy of Baubot)