Systems and methods for automated electrical connector positioning for electric vehicle charging

A method for charging an electric vehicle (EV) with an automatic charging device (ACD), comprising:

• determining, by a controller of the ACD, receipt of an EV-side electrical connector to a charging zone of an EV charging environment;
• and
• actuating, by the controller using an actuator of the ACD, a charger-side electrical connector from an initial position outside of the charging zone to a final position inside of the charging zone, the charger-side electrical connector being configured to mate with the EV-side electrical connector, the final position corresponding to the charger-side electrical connector matingly engaged with the EV-side electrical connector, and wherein the charger-side electrical connector is electrically coupled to a power source positioned outside of the EV;
• storing in memory operational data associated with performance of one or more of the determining and actuating steps of the method;
• analyzing the stored operational data to determine, based on the stored operational data, whether or not an opportunity exists to optimize performance of one or more of the determining and actuating steps of the method;
• and
• if the opportunity exists, then:
• updating calibration data for use in one or more of the determining and actuating steps of the method according to a result of the analyzing step,
• else:
• labelling the stored operational data in memory as a successful operational sequence for the method.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon program instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of an automatic charging device (ACD) for an electric vehicle (EV), cause the ACD to:

• determine receipt of an EV-side electrical connector to a charging zone of an EV charging environment;
• actuate a charger-side electrical connector of the ACD from an initial position outside of the charging zone to a final position inside of the charging zone, the charger-side electrical connector being configured to mate with the EV-side electrical connector, the final position corresponding to the charger-side electrical connector matingly engaged with the EV-side electrical connector, and wherein the charger-side electrical connector is electrically coupled to a power source positioned outside of the EV;
• store in memory operational data associated with performance by the ACD of one or more of the determining receipt of the EV-side electrical connector and the actuating the charger-side electrical connector;
• analyze the stored operational data to determine, based on the stored operational data, whether or not an opportunity exists to optimize performance by the ACD of one or more of the determining receipt of the EV-side electrical connector and the actuating the charger-side electrical connector;
• and
• if the opportunity exists, then:
• update calibration data for use in the performance by the ACD of one or more of the determining receipt of the EV-side electrical connector and the actuating the charger-side electrical connector according to a result of the analyzing step,
• else:
• label the stored operational data in memory as a successful operational sequence.