An unmanned aerial vehicle according to certain embodiments generally includes a chassis, a power supply mounted to the chassis, a control system operable to receive power from the power supply, at least one rotor operable to generate lift under control of the control system, and a winch mounted to the chassis. The winch includes a reel and a motor. The reel has a line wound thereon, the line having a free end. The reel includes a circumferential channel in which a wound portion of the line is wound onto the reel. The circumferential channel includes an inner portion, an outer portion, and a passage connecting the inner portion and the outer portion. The motor is operable to rotate the reel under control of the control system to thereby cause the line to wind onto and off of the reel, thereby causing the free end of the line to raise and lower.

The disclosure relates to a method for determining position information of a motor vehicle, which has an inductive charging device with at least one charging coil, which is in particular situated in the region of the bottom of the vehicle, and a measurement means which is assigned to the charging coil to measure a magnetic field, the method having the following steps: magnetizing, by supplying current to the charging coil, at least one magnetic structure which is situated in or on a surface on which the motor vehicle drives, wherein the structure and further structures are stored together with a position indication for the respective structure in a digital map; measuring, using the measurement means, measurement data which describe the magnetic behavior of the structure; identifying the structure by evaluating the measurement data; and determining the position information depending on position indication assigned to the identified structure.

The disclosure relates to a method for determining position information of a motor vehicle, which has an inductive charging device with at least one charging coil, which is in particular situated in the region of the bottom of the vehicle, and a measurement means which is assigned to the charging coil to measure a magnetic field, the method having the following steps: magnetizing, by supplying current to the charging coil, at least one magnetic structure which is situated in or on a surface on which the motor vehicle drives, wherein the structure and further structures are stored together with a position indication for the respective structure in a digital map; measuring, using the measurement means, measurement data which describe the magnetic behavior of the structure; identifying the structure by evaluating the measurement data; and determining the position information depending on position indication assigned to the identified structure.

An intelligent vehicle charging system for charging a fleet of autonomous vehicles throughout a network of charging stations dispersed throughout a geographic area. The intelligent vehicle charging system includes a remote control system that is in operative communication with each of the autonomous vehicles in the fleet and each of the charging stations in the network. When an autonomous vehicle is in need of a power charge, or as directed by the remote control system, the remote control system will identify an available charging station, guide the autonomous vehicle to the charging station, verify that the autonomous vehicle has arrived at the charging station, initiate the power charging process, account and bill appropriate fees for the charging process, and log all associated activity. The remote control system is also capable of remotely and instantaneously terminating the power charging process to dynamically return a vehicle back to service.

An intelligent vehicle charging system for charging a fleet of autonomous vehicles throughout a network of charging stations dispersed throughout a geographic area. The intelligent vehicle charging system includes a remote control system that is in operative communication with each of the autonomous vehicles in the fleet and each of the charging stations in the network. When an autonomous vehicle is in need of a power charge, or as directed by the remote control system, the remote control system will identify an available charging station, guide the autonomous vehicle to the charging station, verify that the autonomous vehicle has arrived at the charging station, initiate the power charging process, account and bill appropriate fees for the charging process, and log all associated activity. The remote control system is also capable of remotely and instantaneously terminating the power charging process to dynamically return a vehicle back to service.

A fast charging system for electrically driven vehicles and a method for forming an electrically conductive connection between a vehicle and a stationary charging station, the fast charging system having a contact device, a charging contact device and a positioning device, said contact device or said charging contact device being disposeable on a vehicle, said charging contact device being electrically contacted using the contact device when in a contact position, said contact device being positioned in a longitudinal and/or transverse direction with respect to the charging contact device as well as being moved to the contact position by means of the positioning device, said charging contact device comprising a charging-contact-element carrier having charging contact elements, said charging contact elements each forming a strip-shaped charging contact surface, said contact device comprising a contact element carrier having contact elements, said contact elements each forming a contact surface which is smaller than the charging contact surfaces, said contact elements being electrically contacted with the charging contact elements for forming contact pairs in each instance when in the contact position, the charging contact surfaces and the contact surfaces being disposed such in the longitudinal direction with respect to each other that a respective physical contact between the charging contact surfaces and the contact surfaces is formed in a defined order at respective longitudinal ends of the charging contact surfaces.

An attachment module constructed to enable a vehicle charging robot to attach to a vehicle and to thereafter insert its charging connector into the vehicle's charging socket. Once the vehicle is charged and the charging connector is disconnected from the charging socket, the attachment module is further constructed to enable the robot to detach from the vehicle.

An attachment module constructed to enable a vehicle charging robot to attach to a vehicle and to thereafter insert its charging connector into the vehicle's charging socket. Once the vehicle is charged and the charging connector is disconnected from the charging socket, the attachment module is further constructed to enable the robot to detach from the vehicle.

A robotic system for fueling or charging a vehicle having a vehicle connector, the robotic system including a robotic arm having a plurality of sequentially arranged articulated links and at least one group of operating cables extending from a proximal end of the arm to terminate at a control link, for controlling the position of that link, the cables each having a path comprising a passage in each successive more proximal link for closely receiving the cable, a flexible conduit operably connected with the robotic arm for delivering a fluid or an electrical current, respectively, to a vehicle, the conduit being connected to a source at a first end and a delivery connector at a second end, and a control system for operating the robotic arm and the hose or cable, wherein the control system directs the robotic arm to engage the vehicle connector with the delivery connector and, upon engagement of the vehicle connector and delivery connector, the control system relaxes the robotic arm to an under-constrained condition.

In one embodiment, an exemplary method of autonomously charging an autonomous driving vehicle includes receiving, from a sensor in an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV), indication that a batter level of the ADV falls below a threshold; and selecting a charging pile from a plurality of charging piles on a high definition map based on information received from a cloud server. The method further includes generating a first trajectory based on a current location of the ADV and a location of the selected charging pile, the first trajectory connecting a first point representing the current location of the ADV to a second point at the selected charging pile, and including a first segment and a second segment. The method further includes driving forward along the first segment of the first trajectory, and driving backward along the second segment of the first trajectory when the ADV drives towards the selected charging pile along the first trajectory.