Method for implementing at least one power supply procedure from at least one power supply unit to at least one transportation vehicle to be supplied with power

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10710459-B2
Application number	US-201616063616-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 19, 2016
Priority date	Dec 18, 2015
Publication date	Jul 14, 2020
Grant date	Jul 14, 2020

Abstract

A method for supplying power from at least one power supply unit to transportation vehicles requiring a power supply, in which a position of a transportation vehicle-side power supply interface of a transportation vehicle requiring power is determined for each transportation vehicle and the transportation vehicle-side power supply interface is automatically coupled to a power supply interface of the power supply unit by the power supply interface of the power supply unit being moved by a robot to the transportation vehicle-side power supply interface and coupled thereto. A robot is responsible for coupling transportation vehicles to a suitable power supply interface of the power supply unit.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for carrying out at least one power supply operation between a power supply unit and at least one transportation vehicle to be supplied with power, the method comprising:
receiving, from the transportation vehicle, position coordinates indicative of a first position of a transportation vehicle-side power supply interface relative to a second position of a power supply interface of the power supply unit; and
coupling, based on the received position coordinates, the transportation vehicle-side power supply interface and a power supply interface of the power supply unit by moving the power supply interface of the power supply unit by a robot to the transportation vehicle-side power supply interface and coupling the power supply interface of the power supply unit to the transportation vehicle-side power supply interface.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the received position coordinates of the transportation vehicle-side power supply interface are determined using optically detectable features of the power supply unit.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, prior to coupling, confirming the first position of the transportation vehicle-side power supply interface by determining, by the robot, a third position of the transportation vehicle-side power supply interface using optically detectable features of the transportation vehicle-side power supply interface and comparing the third position to the first position.

4. A transportation vehicle configured to receive power from a power supply unit during at least one power supply operation, the transportation vehicle comprising:
a transportation vehicle-side power supply interface;
at least one image capture device, an image processing unit, a memory unit, a comparison unit, a computing unit and a communications unit, the image capture device, the image processing unit, the memory unit, the comparison unit, the computing unit and the communications unit being connected to one another and to the power supply unit using signal technology, wherein the image capture device is configured to optically detect and capture features of a power supply interface of the power supply unit, the image processing unit is configured to analyze the captured features to identify a captured feature pattern, the comparison unit is configured to compare the captured feature pattern with a reference pattern stored in the memory unit, the computing unit is configured to calculate, based on the comparison, position coordinates indicative of a position of the transportation vehicle-side power supply interface relative to the power supply unit, and the communications unit is configured to transmit the position coordinates to the power supply unit.

5. The transportation vehicle of claim 4 , wherein the transportation vehicle-side power supply interface includes a plurality of features disposed around outside of the transportation vehicle-side power supply interface, and wherein the features of the transportation vehicle-side power supply interface include at least three encoded markings distributed non-uniformly in relation to a reference point of the transportation vehicle-side power supply interface.

6. The transportation vehicle of claim 5 , wherein the features of the transportation vehicle-side power supply interface include four encoded markings.

7. The transportation vehicle of claim 4 , further comprising a frame component fastened to the transportation vehicle-side power supply interface, wherein a first color of the frame component and a second color of the transportation vehicle-side power supply interface are different from one another.

8. A power supply unit for carrying out at least one power supply operation to supply power to a transportation vehicle, the power supply unit comprising:
at least one power supply interface having a plurality of optically detectable features;
at least one communications device configured to communicate with a transportation vehicle-side communications device of the transportation vehicle to receive, from the transportation vehicle, position coordinates determined using the optically detectable features and indicative of a position of a transportation vehicle-side power supply interface relative to the power supply unit; and
at least one robot configured to, based on the received position coordinates, move the at least one power supply interface to the transportation vehicle-side power supply interface of the transportation vehicle to connect the power supply unit interface to the transportation vehicle-side power supply interface to supply power to the transportation vehicle.

9. The power supply unit of claim 8 , wherein the optically detectable features of the power supply interface of the power supply unit are markings that are encoded and arranged to be distributed non-uniformly around the power supply interface in relation to a reference point of the power supply interface.

10. The power supply unit of claim 9 , wherein the power supply interface of the power supply unit is an electric plug and the reference point of the power supply interface is a plug-in contact of the electric plug.

11. The power supply unit of claim 10 , wherein the reference point is a grounding terminal of the electric plug.

12. The power supply unit of claim 9 , wherein the markings are distributed non-uniformly, such that a first radial spacing between one of the markings and the reference point is different from a second radial spacing between another one of the markings and the reference point.

13. The power supply unit of claim 9 , wherein the markings are distributed non-uniformly, such that a first angular spacing between a first pair of the markings relative to the reference point is different from a second angular spacing between a second pair of the markings relative to the reference point.

14. The power supply unit of claim 9 , wherein the markings are circular figures, and wherein a first one of the circular figures is encoded with one interruption within a contour of the first one of the circular figures, a second one of the circular figures is encoded with two interruptions within a contour of the second one of the circular figures, and a third one of the circular figures is encoded with three interruptions within a contour of the third one of the circular figures.

Assignees

• Volkswagen Ag
• Kuka Deutschland Gmbh
• Kuka Deutschland

Inventors

• Schütz Daniel
• Grote Michael
• Stieg Jürgen
• Junge Lutz
• Horstmann Sven
• Bagdonat Thorsten
• Grysczyk Sebastian
• Weiser Andreas
• Settele Norbert

Classifications

• B60L53/37 Primary

  using optical position determination, e.g. using cameras · CPC title

• B60L53/14 Primary

  Conductive energy transfer · CPC title

• B60L53/36

  by positioning the vehicle · CPC title

• B60L53/305

  Communication interfaces · CPC title

• Y02T90/16

  Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles · CPC title