US 12,253,352 B1
Autonomous vehicle charging station
John Henry Gold, San Antonio, TX (US); Michael Odell Blanton, Jr., San Antonio, TX (US); and Tim Alan Matus, San Antonio, TX (US)
Assigned to RENU ROBOTICS CORP., San Antonio, TX (US)
Filed by RENU ROBOTICS CORP., San Antonio, TX (US)
Filed on Aug. 20, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/408,355.
Application 17/408,355 is a continuation in part of application No. 17/029,992, filed on Sep. 23, 2020, granted, now 11,944,032.
Application 17/408,355 is a continuation in part of application No. 16/748,465, filed on Jan. 21, 2020, granted, now 11,510,361.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/904,451, filed on Sep. 23, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/918,161, filed on Jan. 17, 2019.
Int. Cl. G01B 11/25 (2006.01); G01B 11/24 (2006.01); G01B 11/245 (2006.01); G01D 5/353 (2006.01); G02B 6/02 (2006.01); G02B 6/04 (2006.01)
CPC G01B 11/245 (2013.01) [G01B 11/2441 (2013.01); G01D 5/35316 (2013.01); G02B 6/02076 (2013.01); G02B 6/04 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for charging an autonomous vehicle at a charging station, the method comprising:
docking the autonomous vehicle at the charging station;
establishing power line modem (PLM) communications between the autonomous vehicle and the charging station via an electrical power connection resulting from the docking;
determining that the electrical power connection is without current diversion before sending a full charge over said electrical power connection; and
charging the autonomous vehicle;
wherein determining that the electrical power connection is without current diversion comprises:
transmitting a fixed amount of electrical power from the autonomous vehicle to the charging station via the electrical power connection, and
determining whether the difference between the power transmitted by the autonomous vehicle and the power received by the charging station exceeds a threshold for indicating current diversion.