Honda Team: Alexis Reyes, Janna Gilleman, Gemma Poulsen, Karen Shokobishi
2023-2024: In collaboration with Honda (specifically Honda Research Institute and 99P Labs), this student team designed a mobile, autonomous, electric vehicle (EV) charging system. As an alternative to conventional EV charging stations, this project prioritized a conceptual charging system design that could be implemented anywhere and even temporarily with minimal to no permanent construction needed.
The team took a future-focused and user-centered approach throughout their design process. They reviewed current and cutting-edge technologies, developed user personas and user journeys, articulated design requirements, generated and evaluated concepts, refined and modeled their selected concepts, sized components, and conducted a cost analysis. The team’s recommended design, nicknamed VoltValet, involves multiple components – including arm/navigator robots, mobile battery units, a central station, and a mobile phone application – that all work together to autonomously charge parked EVs in a parking lot. The system design provides charging as a service rather than as infrastructure and meets the core values of the project: scalability, adaptability, speed, environmental sustainability, and equity.