Automated Power Management: Designing an Autonomous Mobile Robot Docking System for Seamless Charging

Abstract

This paper presents the design and implementation of an autonomous docking system that allows a mobile robot to 
recharge without human intervention. With mobile robots increasingly deployed in industrial and service settings, 
autonomous power management is needed to keep them running with minimal downtime. The system uses computer 
vision with ArUco markers: markers placed on the charging station are detected by a webcam mounted on the robot, 
and their position and orientation are used to compute the robot's displacement and its distance from the target. The 
robot then moves forward or rotates until it is aligned closely enough for docking. Electrical contact is made through 
pogo pins, spring-loaded connectors on the robot's front face that meet matching contacts on the fixed structure. Pogo 
pins were chosen because they tolerate repeated insertion, absorb the small misalignment that vision-based docking 
leaves behind, and allow relays to be opened safely once contact is established, which limits sparking. The design 
includes sensors for environmental perception, algorithms for localization and navigation, and a power management 
system with fail-safe mechanisms against overcharging and overheating. The architecture is modular, so it can be 
adapted to different charging infrastructure and different robot models.