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.

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.

A method for positioning a vehicle, having an inductive charging coil, at a stationary inductive charging station. The method includes: recognizing an operating state of the vehicle, and/or a state of the environment of the vehicle, based on an acquired first camera image; ascertaining a suitable illumination signal for at least one illumination device of a reference element of the inductive charging station based on the recognized operating state or environmental state; emitting a control signal to the inductive charging station based on the ascertained suitable illumination signal; recognizing the reference element based on an acquired second camera image and of the ascertained suitable illumination signal; determining a relative position and/or an orientation of the vehicle based on the recognized reference element in the second camera image; and controlling the vehicle based on the determined relative position and/or of the orientation.

A method for positioning a vehicle, having an inductive charging coil, at a stationary inductive charging station. The method includes: recognizing an operating state of the vehicle, and/or a state of the environment of the vehicle, based on an acquired first camera image; ascertaining a suitable illumination signal for at least one illumination device of a reference element of the inductive charging station based on the recognized operating state or environmental state; emitting a control signal to the inductive charging station based on the ascertained suitable illumination signal; recognizing the reference element based on an acquired second camera image and of the ascertained suitable illumination signal; determining a relative position and/or an orientation of the vehicle based on the recognized reference element in the second camera image; and controlling the vehicle based on the determined relative position and/or of the orientation.

The disclosure is directed to methods and systems for a battery configured to store a first energy in a chemical form of the battery at a battery voltage level; an electrical load configured to draw an electrical current from the battery in response to an energy requirement of the electrical load, wherein the battery voltage level is configured to decrease in response to the electrical current being drawn from the battery by the electrical load; and a capacitor module in electrical communication with the battery and configured to store a second energy as an electric field of the capacitor module at a capacitor voltage level. The capacitor module can be in electrical communication with the load via the battery and can be configured to convey at least a portion of the second energy to the battery or to the load in response to a voltage differential between the capacitor voltage level and the battery voltage level exceeding a threshold to prevent the battery voltage level from dropping below a battery voltage threshold.

The disclosure is directed to methods and systems for a battery configured to store a first energy in a chemical form of the battery at a battery voltage level; an electrical load configured to draw an electrical current from the battery in response to an energy requirement of the electrical load, wherein the battery voltage level is configured to decrease in response to the electrical current being drawn from the battery by the electrical load; and a capacitor module in electrical communication with the battery and configured to store a second energy as an electric field of the capacitor module at a capacitor voltage level. The capacitor module can be in electrical communication with the load via the battery and can be configured to convey at least a portion of the second energy to the battery or to the load in response to a voltage differential between the capacitor voltage level and the battery voltage level exceeding a threshold to prevent the battery voltage level from dropping below a battery voltage threshold.

An electric vehicle charging method includes obtaining charging information about a wireless charging station including at least one charging pad for wirelessly transmitting power to at least one charge receiving pad of the electric vehicle; establishing a charging position between the at least one charging pad and the at least one charge receiving pad; and displaying on a display screen the at least one charging pad overlapped by a virtual charge receiving pad representing the at least one charge receiving pad. The method also includes determining whether the charging position is desired to start a wireless charging session between the charging station and the electric vehicle; prompting a readiness for charging on the display screen after determining that the charging position is desired to start the wireless charging session; and starting the wireless charging session between the electric vehicle and the wireless charging station.

An electric vehicle charging method includes obtaining charging information about a wireless charging station including at least one charging pad for wirelessly transmitting power to at least one charge receiving pad of the electric vehicle; establishing a charging position between the at least one charging pad and the at least one charge receiving pad; and displaying on a display screen the at least one charging pad overlapped by a virtual charge receiving pad representing the at least one charge receiving pad. The method also includes determining whether the charging position is desired to start a wireless charging session between the charging station and the electric vehicle; prompting a readiness for charging on the display screen after determining that the charging position is desired to start the wireless charging session; and starting the wireless charging session between the electric vehicle and the wireless charging station.

The present disclosure discloses an electric mobile apparatus, a charging station and a method for controlling an electric mobile apparatus. The An electric mobile apparatus includes an apparatus body; a first sensing module arranged on the apparatus body for sensing an electromagnetic signal transmitted from a positioning coil and outputting a first electromagnetic sensing signal; a second sensing module arranged on the apparatus body for sensing the electromagnetic signal transmitted from the positioning coil and outputting a second electromagnetic sensing signal; and a control module connected to the first sensing module and the second sensing module respectively for determining a relative position between the apparatus body and the positioning coil based on the first electromagnetic sensing signal and the second electromagnetic sensing signal, and controlling the apparatus body to move based on the relative position until the apparatus body moves to a target position.

The present disclosure discloses an electric mobile apparatus, a charging station and a method for controlling an electric mobile apparatus. The An electric mobile apparatus includes an apparatus body; a first sensing module arranged on the apparatus body for sensing an electromagnetic signal transmitted from a positioning coil and outputting a first electromagnetic sensing signal; a second sensing module arranged on the apparatus body for sensing the electromagnetic signal transmitted from the positioning coil and outputting a second electromagnetic sensing signal; and a control module connected to the first sensing module and the second sensing module respectively for determining a relative position between the apparatus body and the positioning coil based on the first electromagnetic sensing signal and the second electromagnetic sensing signal, and controlling the apparatus body to move based on the relative position until the apparatus body moves to a target position.