Development of Paint Thickness Simulator for Industrial Painting Robots

Path planning with a uniform paint thickness distribution for industrial painting robots is challenging. It is difficult and time-consuming to generate a path with a constant paint thickness because extensive trial and error are required. To realize painting paths with a uniform paint thickness distribution without specialized operator skills, it is useful to simulate all painting processes and verify the paint thickness distribution. Therefore, a simulator that can predict and analyze paint thickness is developed in this study. A distribution model of adhered paint ejected from a spray gun is proposed. The distribution model is identified by fitting the actual paint distribution to the model and a painting simulator is developed. The effectiveness of the developed simulator is confirmed by a comparison between the simulation results and actual painting results for a complex structure.