Designer and manufacturer of lighting equipment for local and international car manufacturers Hella recently announced that it has developed an electronic charging lid actuator that supports robot-assisted charging processes. This allows the lid position to be changed automatically or manually and ensures that this functions reliably at all times, even in conditions with frost and ice, for example, the company said in a release.
In the future, customer-specific functions can also be integrated to further increase convenience. This includes, for example, gesture control for automatic opening and closing of the charging lid or a push to run function. This means the actuator detects when the lid is tapped with a finger and opens or closes it as a result.
To protect against trapped fingers, the actuator has an integrated protective mechanism. Additional functions can also be integrated depending on the manufacturer’s requirements. To this end, HELLA contributes its many years of expertise in the fields of actuators, sensors and control modules.
“Automated charging processes, in which a robot takes over the charging process, for example, will be an important lever in this process,” says Björn Twiehaus, Managing Director responsible for the global electronics business at the internationally positioned automotive supplier HELLA. “Based on our strong lighting and electronics expertise, we are therefore working on further automating the charging process. Partially automated charging processes are also conceivable as a first step.”
In addition to the electronic components, intelligent lighting solutions are also an important part of the automated charging process, for example, to intuitively visualize the battery status or charge level. For this purpose, HELLA has developed an innovative, space-saving concept based on red, green and amber LEDs as well as Edge Light technology, which is based on the experience of end consumers in the field of consumer electronics.
