Method and device for autonomously plugging a charging plug into a charging socket of a vehicle

An apparatus for autonomously moving and plugging a charging plug into a charging socket of a transportation vehicle, comprising:

• a charging station with a programmable robot arm on which the charging plug (10) is installed;
• a camera system mounted on the robot arm and configured for camera-based localization of the charging socket by image analysis of images of the charging socket and for creating a depth image of the charging socket indicating a current position when the charging plug has been moved to an intermediate position at a distance from the charging socket;
• a computational unit for determining pose data for determining a pose of the localized charging socket using a PnP algorithm to analyze images of the charging socket;
• and
• a comparison unit for performing a comparison between the created depth image and a reference depth image corresponding to a reference position to determine a positional deviation between a current position of the charging plug and the reference position,
• wherein the charging plug is moved to the intermediate position based on the determined pose data, and
• wherein the charging plug is moved to a plug-in position from the intermediate position of the charging plug based on the determined positional deviation so as to plug the charging plug into the charging socket.