Charging system

Abstract

To provide a technique for surely executing automatic charging of an electric vehicle.SOLUTION: A charging system that automatically charges an electric vehicle parked in a predetermined parking area includes: a charging plug that is detachably connected to a charging socket of the electric vehicle and supplies charging power to the charging socket; a moving device that moves the charging plug in a predetermined three-dimensional space at least part of which is located on the predetermined parking area; and a control device that detects a position of the charging socket in the predetermined three-dimensional space and controls operation of the moving device such that the charging plug is connected to the charging socket based on the position.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The technology disclosed in this specification relates to a charging system. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a charging system that automatically charges an electric vehicle. This charging system includes a charging plug that is detachably connected to the charging socket of the electric vehicle and supplies charging power to the charging socket, a moving device that moves the charging plug up and down, and a control device that controls the operation of the moving device so that the charging plug is connected to the charging socket. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2022-187592 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the charging system of Patent Document 1, the charging socket of the electric vehicle faces downward. The moving device moves the charging plug only in the vertical direction. In order to connect the charging socket and the charging plug, the horizontal position of the charging socket and the horizontal position of the charging plug need to be aligned. However, when parking the electric vehicle, it is difficult to align the horizontal position of the charging socket and the horizontal position of the charging plug.

[0005] This specification provides a technique for reliably executing automatic charging of an electric vehicle. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In a first aspect disclosed in the present specification, a charging system that automatically charges an electric vehicle parked in a designated parking area may include a charging plug that is detachably connected to a charging socket of the electric vehicle and supplies charging power to the charging socket, a moving device that moves the charging plug within a designated three-dimensional space, at least a portion of which is located above the designated parking area, and a control device that detects a position of the charging socket within the designated three-dimensional space and controls the operation of the moving device so that the charging plug is connected to the charging socket based on the position.

[0007] In the above configuration, the moving device can move the charging plug within a predetermined three-dimensional space in a predetermined parking area. This eliminates the need to accurately position the charging socket of the electric vehicle relative to the charging plug when the electric vehicle is parked in the predetermined parking area. The control device detects the position of the charging socket of the parked electric vehicle and operates the moving device to connect the charging plug to the charging socket. This ensures that the electric vehicle is automatically charged.

[0008] In a second aspect, the charging system according to the first aspect may further include an imaging device that images the electric vehicle parked in a predetermined parking area. The control device may process the image captured by the imaging device to identify the position of the charging socket present in the image.

[0009] According to the above configuration, the control device can identify the position of the charging socket by using the image captured by the imaging device, and therefore the charging plug can be reliably connected to the charging socket.

[0010] In a third aspect, in the first or second aspect described above, the charging system may further include a first guiding device that uses mobile data communication to transmit first location information indicating a location of a facility in which the specified parking area is provided to the electric vehicle, and a second guiding device that uses short-range wireless communication to teach the electric vehicle located within the facility second location information indicating the location of the specified parking area.

[0011] According to the above configuration, when the electric vehicle is located outside a facility where a predetermined parking area is provided, the electric vehicle can be guided into the facility. Then, after the electric vehicle moves from outside the facility into the facility, the electric vehicle can be guided to the predetermined parking area. In general, the position accuracy of the electric vehicle can be improved by using short-range wireless communication compared to the case where mobile data communication is used. Therefore, the electric vehicle can be accurately guided to the predetermined parking area.

[0012] In a fourth aspect, in any one of the first to third aspects, the electric vehicle may have a charging lid movable between a closed position that covers the charging socket and an open position that exposes the charging socket. The control device may execute a process of wirelessly communicating with the electric vehicle parked in the specified parking area to acquire identification information that identifies the electric vehicle, and a process of transmitting a command signal to the electric vehicle to move the charging lid to the open position when the identification information acquired from the electric vehicle satisfies a specified authentication condition.

[0013] According to the above configuration, when the electric vehicle does not receive a command signal from the control device, the charging lid of the electric vehicle is in the closed position, which makes it possible to prevent water or the like from adhering to the charging socket.

[0014] In a fifth aspect, in any one of the first to fourth aspects, the moving device may include an arm having at least six degrees of freedom.

[0015] In an electric vehicle, the charging socket may be provided at a variety of locations and may face a variety of different directions. With the above configuration, the charging plug can be connected to a variety of different charging sockets. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] 2 shows the configuration of a vehicle system 2. [Diagram 2] A schematic diagram of a charging unit 20 is shown. [Diagram 3] 1 shows a schematic diagram of a state in which an electric vehicle 100 is parked near a predetermined parking area SA. [Figure 4] 2 shows an example of a predetermined parking area SA. [Diagram 5] 1 shows a schematic diagram of a state in which an electric vehicle 100 is parked near a predetermined parking area SA. [Figure 6] An example of the operation of the charging lid 110 will be described. [Figure 7] 1 shows an underground space in which a charging device according to a first modified example is installed. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0017] (Example) As shown in Fig. 1, the vehicle system 2 includes a charging system 10 and an electric vehicle 100. The charging system 10 is a system for providing a charging service that automatically charges the electric vehicle 100. The charging system 10 is installed in a certain facility 4. The facility 4 is, for example, an electric vehicle station, a parking lot of a commercial facility, etc.

[0018] The charging system 10 includes a charging unit 20 and a server 50. The charging unit 20 includes a short-distance communication interface 22, a long-distance communication interface 24, a control device 26, and a charging device 28. In the following, the interface is referred to as "I / F". The short-distance communication I / F 22 is an I / F for performing short-distance wireless communication. The short-distance wireless communication in this embodiment is wireless communication according to Bluetooth (registered trademark). The long-distance communication I / F 24 is an I / F for performing long-distance wireless communication. The long-distance wireless communication in this embodiment is mobile data communication. In a modified example, the long-distance wireless communication may be Wi-Fi communication or the like. The control device 26 is a computer including a CPU. The control device 26 controls the operation of each component of the charging unit 20.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 2, the charging device 28 is installed in the underground space S1 of the facility 4. The facility 4 is provided with a lid 44 for opening and closing the underground space S1. The lid 44 can move between a first open position for opening the underground space S1 and a first closed position for closing the underground space S1. The charging device 28 includes a moving device 30, a charging plug 38, a camera 40 (see FIG. 1), and an infrared sensor 42 (see FIG. 1). The moving device 30 can move in a three-dimensional space in the underground space S1. In other words, the moving device 30 can move in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction. The moving device 30 includes a moving unit 32, a pallet 34, and a robot arm 36. The pallet 34 is attached to the moving unit 32. The moving unit 32 includes a horizontal moving unit for moving the pallet 34 along the horizontal direction and a vertical moving unit for moving the pallet 34 in the vertical direction. The pallet 34 supports the robot arm 36. Therefore, the robot arm 36 moves in response to the movement of the pallet 34. The robot arm 36 has an arm with six degrees of freedom. Specifically, the robot arm 36 has degrees of freedom in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, the Z-axis direction, the rotational degree of freedom in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the Z-axis direction.

[0020] A charging plug 38 is attached to the tip 36A of the robot arm 36. The charging plug 38 is detachably connected to a charging socket 112 of the electric vehicle 100 described later. The charging plug 38 can move within a predetermined three-dimensional space S2 in response to the movement of the pallet 34 by the moving device 30 and the operation of the robot arm 36. Although omitted in FIG. 2, a camera 40 (see FIG. 1) and an infrared sensor 42 (see FIG. 1) are attached to the tip 36A. The camera 40 and the infrared sensor 42 in FIG. 1 face in the same direction as the charging plug 38. The camera 40 is used to align the charging plug 38 with respect to the charging socket 112. The infrared sensor 42 is used to measure the distance between the charging socket 112 and the charging plug 38.

[0021] The server 50 is provided on the Internet, for example, by a business that sells the electric vehicle 100. The server 50 includes a long-distance communication I / F 52 and a control device 54. The long-distance communication I / F 52 has the same configuration as the long-distance communication I / F 24 of the charging unit 20. The control device 54 is a computer equipped with a CPU. The control device 54 controls the operation of each component of the server 50.

[0022] The electric vehicle 100 is an autonomous vehicle. The electric vehicle 100 includes a short-distance communication I / F 102, a long-distance communication I / F 104, a control device 106, a rechargeable battery 108, a charging lid 110, and a charging socket 112. The short-distance communication I / F 102 and the long-distance communication I / F 104 have the same configurations as the short-distance communication I / F 22 and the long-distance communication I / F 24 of the charging unit 20, respectively. The battery 108 is, for example, a lithium-ion battery. The charging lid 110 is movable between a second closed position (see FIG. 6(A)) in which the charging lid 110 covers the charging socket 112 and a second open position (see FIG. 6(B)) in which the charging socket 112 is exposed. The charging plug 38 of the charging unit 20 is connected to the charging socket 112. The charging socket 112 may be connected to the battery 108 via an inverter (not shown) or the like, or may be connected to the battery 108 without via an inverter (not shown) or the like. Identification information VI for identifying the electric vehicle 100 is stored in a memory (not shown) of the electric vehicle 100. The electric vehicle 100 is configured to periodically transmit the identification information VI, remaining amount information indicating the remaining amount of the battery 108, and first vehicle position information indicating the current position of the electric vehicle 100 to the server 50 via the long-distance communication I / F 104.

[0023] (Specific cases: Figures 3 to 6) Next, a specific case in which an automatic charging service is provided will be described with reference to Fig. 3 to Fig. 6. As shown in Fig. 3, in this case, charging socket 112 is disposed on the lower part (specifically, the bottom surface) of electric vehicle 100. That is, charging socket 112 faces downward.

[0024] As described above, the electric vehicle 100 periodically transmits the identification information VI, the remaining amount information, and the first vehicle position information to the server 50 via the long-distance communication I / F 104. When the server 50 receives the identification information VI, the remaining amount information, and the first vehicle position information from the electric vehicle 100 via the long-distance communication I / F 52, the server 50 judges whether the remaining amount indicated by the received remaining amount information is equal to or less than a threshold. When the server 50 judges that the remaining amount is equal to or less than the threshold, the server 50 executes an authentication process using the received identification information VI and judges whether automatic payment of the charging fee is permitted. When the server 50 judges that the authentication using the received identification information VI is successful and automatic payment is permitted, the server 50 identifies a facility to which the electric vehicle 100 can move using the travelable distance of the electric vehicle 100 and the position indicated by the received first vehicle position information. In this case, a situation is assumed in which the facility 4 (see FIG. 1) is identified as a facility to which the electric vehicle 100 can move. In this case, the server 50 transmits a first guiding signal including facility location information indicating the location of the facility 4 to the electric vehicle 100 via the long-distance communication I / F 52. The server 50 also transmits the identification information VI and socket location information indicating the location of the charging socket 112 in the electric vehicle 100 to the charging unit 20 in the facility 4 via the long-distance communication I / F 52. Note that the server 50 does not transmit the first guiding signal to the electric vehicle 100 if the remaining charge exceeds a threshold, if authentication fails, or if it is determined that automatic payment is not permitted. The server 50 also does not transmit the identification information VI and the socket location information to the charging unit 20.

[0025] When the electric vehicle 100 receives the first guidance signal from the server 50 via the long-distance communication I / F 104, the electric vehicle 100 identifies the position of the facility 4 indicated by the first vehicle position information in the signal. Then, the electric vehicle 100 moves toward the facility 4.

[0026] When the charging unit 20 in the facility 4 receives the identification information VI and the socket location information from the server 50 via the long-distance communication I / F 24, the charging unit 20 periodically transmits a beacon.

[0027] When electric vehicle 100 arrives within the signal transmission range of the beacon (i.e., within facility 4), electric vehicle 100 receives the beacon via short-range communication I / F 102. In this case, electric vehicle 100 transmits second vehicle position information indicating the position of electric vehicle 100 via short-range communication I / F 102. Note that the position accuracy of the second vehicle position information transmitted using short-range communication I / F 102 is higher than the position accuracy of the first vehicle position information transmitted using long-range communication I / F 104.

[0028] When the charging unit 20 receives the second vehicle position information from the electric vehicle 100 via the short-range communication I / F 22, the charging unit 20 uses the socket position information already received from the server 50 and the second vehicle position information received from the electric vehicle 100 to identify parking area information indicating a predetermined parking area SA (see FIG. 4) in which the electric vehicle 100 should be parked. The predetermined parking area SA in FIG. 4 is an area in which the charging plug 38 can be connected to the charging socket 112 by moving the charging plug 38 when the electric vehicle 100 is parked in the predetermined parking area SA. In this embodiment, the predetermined parking area SA is determined so that the charging socket 112 is located at approximately the center of the predetermined three-dimensional space S2 when the electric vehicle 100 is viewed from above in a parked state. The predetermined parking area SA differs depending on the type of electric vehicle. A part of the predetermined three-dimensional space S2 is located on the predetermined parking area SA. Next, the charging unit 20 transmits the parking area information to the electric vehicle 100 via the short-range communication I / F 22.

[0029] When the electric vehicle 100 receives the parking area information from the charging unit 20 via the short-range communication I / F 102, it identifies the predetermined parking area SA indicated by the parking area information and moves the electric vehicle 100 toward the predetermined parking area SA. As shown in Fig. 3, when the electric vehicle 100 has completed its movement to the predetermined parking area SA, it transmits a completion signal indicating that the movement to the predetermined parking area SA has been completed to the charging unit 20 via the short-range communication I / F 102. In this case, the electric vehicle 100 is parked slightly behind the predetermined parking area SA.

[0030] When the charging unit 20 receives a completion signal from the electric vehicle 100 via the short-distance communication I / F 22, the charging unit 20 transmits an authentication request signal including the identification information VI to the server 50 via the long-distance communication I / F 24. The authentication request signal is a signal for requesting the server 50 to execute authentication processing using the identification information VI. When the charging unit 20 receives a success signal indicating that the authentication processing has been successful from the server 50 via the long-distance communication I / F 24, the charging unit 20 moves the lid 44 of the facility 4 from the first closed position to the first open position. Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the charging plug 38 of the charging unit 20 is aligned with the charging socket 112 of the electric vehicle 100 based on the parking position of the electric vehicle 100. As shown in FIG. 6(A), in a state after the electric vehicle 100 is parked in a predetermined parking area SA, the charging lid 110 is located in the second closed position. That is, the charging socket 112 is covered by the charging lid 110. Therefore, the charging unit 20 aligns the charging plug 38 with respect to the charging socket 112 by aligning the charging plug 38 with respect to the charging lid 110. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the charging unit 20 operates the robot arm 36 so that the charging plug 38 faces upward. Next, the charging unit 20 uses the captured image captured by the camera 40 to identify the position of the charging lid 110 present in the captured image, and moves the moving part 32 in the horizontal direction so that the charging plug 38 is located below the charging lid 110. Next, the charging unit 20 moves the moving part 32 upward. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6(A), the distance between the charging plug 38 and the charging lid 110 becomes smaller. The charging unit 20 uses the infrared sensor 42 to detect the distance between the charging lid 110 and the charging plug 38. When the distance becomes equal to or shorter than a predetermined distance, the charging unit 20 transmits a command signal to the electric vehicle 100 via the short-range communication I / F 102 to move the charging lid 110 to the second open position.

[0031] 6(B), when the electric vehicle 100 receives a command signal from the charging unit 20 via the short-range communication I / F 102, the electric vehicle 100 moves the charging lid 110 to the second open position. As a result, the charging socket 112 is included in the captured image.

[0032] After the charging lid 110 moves to the open position, the charging unit 20 checks whether or not an abnormality occurs in the charging socket 112 included in the captured image. An abnormality occurs, for example, when the charging socket 112 is broken or when a foreign object is attached to the charging socket 112. When the charging unit 20 determines that no abnormality occurs in the charging socket 112, the charging unit 20 moves the charging plug 38 toward the charging socket 112. The charging unit 20 adjusts the moving speed of the charging plug 38 based on the distance between the charging plug 38 and the charging socket 112. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6(C), the charging plug 38 is connected to the charging socket 112, and the supply of charging power from the charging unit 20 to the electric vehicle 100 is started. When the charging unit 20 determines that an abnormality occurs in the charging socket 112, the charging unit 20 notifies the user of the electric vehicle 100 or the administrator of the server 50 of information related to the abnormality.

[0033] As shown in Figures 6(D) and (E), when the charging unit 20 determines that charging of the battery 108 is complete, it moves the charging plug 38 in a direction (i.e., downward) to disconnect the charging plug 38 from the charging socket 112.

[0034] As shown in FIG. 6(F), when the charging plug 38 is removed from the charging socket 112, the electric vehicle 100 moves the charging lid 110 to the second closed position.

[0035] Thereafter, the charging unit 20 moves the robot arm 36 and the charging plug 38 to the initial position (the position in FIG. 3 ). Then, the charging unit 20 moves the lid 44 to the first closed position. In this manner, the automatic charging of the electric vehicle 100 is completed.

[0036] As described above, the charging system 10 that automatically charges an electric vehicle 100 parked in a designated parking area SA includes a charging plug 38 that is detachably connected to the charging socket 112 of the electric vehicle 100 and supplies charging power to the charging socket 112, a moving device 30 that moves the charging plug 38 within a designated three-dimensional space S2, at least a portion of which is located above the designated parking area SA, and a control device 26 that detects the position of the charging socket 112 within the designated three-dimensional space S2 and controls the operation of the moving device 30 so that the charging plug 38 is connected to the charging socket 112 based on the position.

[0037] According to the above configuration, the moving device 30 can move the charging plug 38 within a predetermined three-dimensional space S2 in a predetermined parking area SA. As a result, when the electric vehicle 100 is parked in the predetermined parking area SA, it is not necessary to accurately position the charging socket 112 of the electric vehicle 100 relative to the charging plug 38. The control device 26 detects the position of the charging socket 112 of the parked electric vehicle 100 and operates the moving device 30 to connect the charging plug 38 to the charging socket 112. As a result, automatic charging of the electric vehicle 100 is reliably performed.

[0038] The charging system 10 further includes a camera 40 (an example of an "imaging device") that captures an image of the electric vehicle 100 parked in a predetermined parking area SA. The control device 26 processes the image captured by the imaging device to identify the position of the charging socket 112 present in the captured image.

[0039] According to the above configuration, the control device 26 can identify the position of the charging socket 112 by using the image captured by the camera 40. Therefore, the charging plug 38 can be reliably connected to the charging socket 112.

[0040] The charging system 10 also has a server 50 (an example of a "first guiding device") that uses mobile data communication to transmit facility location information (an example of "first location information") indicating the location of the facility 4 in which a specified parking area SA is provided to the electric vehicle 100, and a charging unit 20 (an example of a "second guiding device") that uses short-range wireless communication to inform the electric vehicle 100 located within the facility 4 of parking area information ("second location information") indicating the location of the specified parking area SA.

[0041] According to the above configuration, in a situation where the electric vehicle 100 is located outside a facility 4 in which a predetermined parking area SA is provided, the electric vehicle 100 can be guided to the facility 4. Then, after the electric vehicle 100 moves from outside the facility 4 to inside the facility 4, the electric vehicle 100 can be guided to the predetermined parking area SA. In general, the position accuracy of the electric vehicle 100 can be improved by using short-range wireless communication compared to the case where mobile data communication is used. Therefore, the electric vehicle 100 can be accurately guided to the predetermined parking area SA.

[0042] Furthermore, the electric vehicle 100 has a charging lid 110 that is movable between a second closed position (an example of a "closed position") that covers the charging socket 112 and a second open position (an example of an "open position") that exposes the charging socket 112. The control device 26 executes a process of acquiring identification information VI that identifies the electric vehicle 100 by wirelessly communicating with the electric vehicle 100 parked in a predetermined parking area SA, and a process of transmitting a command signal to the electric vehicle 100 to move the charging lid 110 to the second open position when authentication processing using the identification information VI acquired from the electric vehicle 100 is successful (an example of "when a predetermined authentication condition is satisfied").

[0043] According to the above configuration, the charging lid 110 of the electric vehicle 100 is located in the second closed position when the electric vehicle 100 is not receiving a command signal from the control device 26. This makes it possible to prevent foreign matter such as water from adhering to the charging socket 112.

[0044] The moving device 30 also includes a robot arm 36 that includes an arm with six degrees of freedom.

[0045] In electric vehicle 100, charging socket 112 may be provided at a variety of positions and in a variety of directions. For example, charging socket 112 may be provided on a side surface or the like of electric vehicle 100. According to the above configuration, charging plug 38 can be connected to charging sockets 112 in a variety of configurations.

[0046] The technical elements described in this specification or drawings have technical utility either alone or in various combinations, and are not limited to the combinations described in the claims at the time of filing. In addition, the technologies illustrated in this specification or drawings can achieve multiple objectives simultaneously, and achieving one of these objectives is itself technically useful.

[0047] (First Modification) As shown in FIG. 7, an underground space S11 in which a charging device 28 is installed may be formed across a plurality of parking spaces SS.

[0048] (Second Modification) Charging device 28 may be placed on the ceiling, side wall, etc. of facility 4.

[0049] (Third Modification) The charging system 10 may detect the position of the charging socket 112 of the electric vehicle 100 by using a laser tracking system instead of the camera 40.

[0050] (Fourth Modification) The charging system 10 does not have to transmit the first guidance signal and the second guidance signal. In this modification, the charging system 10 performs charging using the charging unit 20 when the electric vehicle 100 is parked in a predetermined parking area SA in response to an operation of the electric vehicle 100 by a user.

[0051] (Fifth Modification) The electric vehicle 100 does not have to include the charging lid 110. In another modification, the charging lid 110 may be manually movable between the second closed position and the second open position.

[0052] (Sixth Modification) The electric vehicle 100 may not be capable of autonomous driving. In this modification, the user moves the electric vehicle 100 based on facility position information and parking position information.

[0053] (Seventh Modification) The robot arm 36 may have less than six degrees of freedom or seven or more degrees of freedom.

[0054] (Eighth Modification) In place of the pallet 34 and the robot arm 36, an arm having a charging plug 38 attached to its tip may be fixed to the moving section 32 of the moving device 30.

[0055] In addition, the technical elements described in this specification or the drawings have technical utility either alone or in various combinations, and are not limited to the combinations described in the claims at the time of filing. The technologies illustrated in this specification or the drawings can achieve multiple objectives simultaneously, and achieving one of these objectives is itself technically useful. [Explanation of symbols]

[0056] 2: vehicle system, 4: facility, 10: charging system, 20: charging unit, 22: short-range communication I / F, 24: long-range communication I / F, 26: control device, 28: charging device, 30: moving device, 32: moving part, 34: pallet, 36: robot arm, 36A: tip part, 38: charging plug, 40: camera, 42: infrared sensor, 44: lid, 50: server, 52: long-range communication I / F, 54: control device, 100: electric vehicle, 102: short-range communication I / F, 104: long-range communication I / F, 106: control device, 108: battery, 110: charging lid, 112: charging socket, S1: underground space, S11: underground space, S2: three-dimensional space, SA: parking area, SS: parking space

Claims

1. A charging system that automatically charges an electric vehicle parked in a specified parking area, a charging plug that is detachably connected to a charging socket of the electric vehicle and supplies charging power to the charging socket; a moving device that moves the charging plug within a predetermined three-dimensional space, at least a portion of which is located above the predetermined parking area; a control device that detects a position of the charging socket within the predetermined three-dimensional space and controls an operation of the moving device based on the position so that the charging plug is connected to the charging socket; A charging system comprising:

2. an imaging device that images the electric vehicle parked in the predetermined parking area, The charging system according to claim 1 , wherein the control device processes the captured image captured by the imaging device to identify a position of the charging socket present in the captured image.

3. a first guiding device that transmits, to the electric vehicle, first location information indicating a location of a facility in which the predetermined parking area is provided, by using mobile data communication; 2. The charging system according to claim 1, further comprising: a second guiding device that uses short-range wireless communication to inform the electric vehicle located within the facility of second position information indicating a position of the predetermined parking area.

4. the electric vehicle has a charging lid that is movable between a closed position that covers the charging socket and an open position that exposes the charging socket, The control device includes: a process of wirelessly communicating with the electric vehicle parked in the predetermined parking area and acquiring identification information for identifying the electric vehicle; and transmitting, when the identification information acquired from the electric vehicle satisfies a predetermined authentication condition, a command signal to the electric vehicle for moving the charging lid to the open position.

5. The charging system of claim 1 , wherein the movement device includes an arm having at least six degrees of freedom.

Images