Skip to main content

VW Wants Robots to Charge your Car for You

Volkswagen is looking into the possibility of building robots to complete the inane task of plugging your car in to charge.

That’s thanks to a new Cooperation Contract between VW and Kuka, an automation specialist. The contract intensifies the partnership between the two companies that are developing robots to make future mobility easier.

“In future, robots will support humans in many routine tasks,” said Till Reuter, CEO of KUKA AG. “And everyday life in future will be inconceivable without autonomous driving. We will work together on innovative concepts in order to shape this future.”

Right now, that specifically means a robot to plug in your electric car when you’re done driving. Just park in a designated spot, and the robot takes care of plugging in your car. The advantage being that a robot takes care of that process without your even having to ask it to.

“Autonomous vehicles will contribute to making mobility safer, simpler and more convenient. This includes innovative services associated with the automobile,” said Ulrich Eichhorn, head of R&D at VW. “Our aim is to use the new strategic partnership to develop other opportunities in this area.”

sedric_02

Earlier this year, at the Geneva auto show, VW unveiled its concept for the autonomous future. Called SEDRIC, the completely driverless conveyance was furnished like a lounge on the inside.

It seems odd that VW is so heavily emphasizing autonomous vehicles since their semi-robotic nature would seem to make a charge-bot unnecessary (just have it plug itself into the charging pod like a Roomba).

On the other hand, the thought of having a team of robots (droids, if you will) to look after your car is oddly pleasing.

The post VW Wants Robots to Charge your Car for You appeared first on VWVortex.



from VWVortex http://ift.tt/2sOy4GP
via IFTTT

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Project SportWagen: Going Stage 2 with APR

    When we last left you, the humble little SportWagen was fresh from the development process with our friends at AWE Tuning, sporting a new downpipe, exhaust and intake, allowing things to breathe a bit easier.  The car sounded great, but there was no getting around the fact that our wagon was still quite, well, slow.   While we realize that nothing we do to the Golf SportWagen at this point will make it a race car, we still felt compelled to do something .  To put it bluntly, we had a fever, and the only cure was more power. Flash forward a few hours, and we found ourselves at Waterfest, staring down APR’s palatial spread and the numerous tuned vehicles surrounding it.  Earlier in the year, APR had hinted to us that their 1.8 TSI files would be quite impressive, and based on what they were able to do with the 2.0 TSI found in the new GTI and our time in their Golf R, we knew it’d be worth the wait.  So with this in mind, we lined our G...

Volkswagen’s Gone to California with Grand California Camper

Volkswagen is bringing the California XXL concept to production. It will debut at the Dusseldorf Caravan Salon as the Grand California. It’s set to be based on the medium wheelbase Crafter van. That’s the company’s full-size commercial van, larger than the T6 Transporter based California. The high roof means room for adults to stand up, though it won’t get the concept’s extended length. The Grand California offers a full wet bathroom. It’s not exactly spacious, though, measuring in at around 31.5 x 33-inches. A toilet, shower, and sink are all crammed into that space, but at least there are motion sensor lights to stop you from reaching for a switch. Standard, the Grand California it comes with berths for two adults. Space for two children is optional, but they’ll be stuck in a berth amove the driver’s area. The kitchen offers a sink, stove, and two fridges. The front seats swivel to add seating space when the RV is parked. It’s also got solar panels, an integrated satellite dish,...

Volkswagen Group Records Best Ever First-Half-of-Year Sales

With 5.5 million vehicles in customer hands after the first six months of 2018, the Volkswagen Group is seeing the best performance of its history. Group deliveries increased significantly in all core regions,” said Fred Kappler, head of sales for the Group. “Our core brands recorded strong growth in the first half year.” For the year-to-date, all of Volkswagen’s brands had sales bumps. MAN, SEAT, and Skoda led the sales charge with performances 24%, 17% and 11% better than the previous year. The big sellers, too, had strong sales periods, with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Audi, and Volkswagen sales rising 3.5%, 4.5% and 6.3% respectively. That last figure is particularly good new for the board, since Volkswagen alone sold more than 3 million vehicles in the first half of 2018. As Kappler stated, the numbers are equally good when you break sales down by region. Brazil and Russia were the most improved markets (22% and 20%, respectively), while strong sales in Europe and China (u...