Design and Development of an Automated Pantograph-Based Fast-Charging System for Electric Buses with Arduino-Controlled Safety and Battery Management

Electric buses are rapidly replacing conventional diesel fleets in urban public transport, but their operational viability is limited by long charging durations and the dependence on manual plug-in connections at depots. This paper presents the design and development of an automated pantograph-based fast-charging system for electric buses, implemented and validated as a laboratory-scale single-phase prototype. The proposed charging station draws power from a 230 V, single-phase AC grid, converts it into regulated DC through an SMPS-based AC–DC converter, and raises it to the required charging level using a DC boost converter. An Arduino UNO (ATmega328P) controller supervises the complete charging cycle using voltage and current sensing, actuates a motor-driven scissor-type pantograph through an L298N driver, and controls a contactor that isolates the power path until safe contact is confirmed. On the vehicle side, a lithium-ion battery pack is protected by a Battery Management System that performs cell balancing and guards against overcharge, over-discharge, overcurrent, over-temperature and short-circuit conditions. Design calculations for a 12 V, 2 Ah prototype battery predict a charging power of 24 W, an ideal charging time of 1 h, an effective charging time of 1.18 h at 85 % efficiency, and an AC input current of approximately 0.13 A. Hardware realization of the Arduino development board, regulated 5 V supply, 16×2 LCD, sensor interface and battery module has been completed, and the mechanical pantograph assembly with closed-loop testing is in progress. The system demonstrates that automatic connection, real-time monitoring and layered protection can be achieved at low cost while eliminating manual intervention and reducing bus turnaround time.

Electric bus, pantograph charging, automated connection device, fast charging, Arduino UNO, Battery Management System, DC boost converter, opportunity charging, EV charging infrastructure

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