A novel spray painting robotic device for the coating process in automotive industry

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel concept for the spray painting robotic device, which is to be used in the coating process of the automotive industry. In order to realize compact design and simultaneously get better performance in terms of running speed and dynamic response, parallel kinematic mechanisms (PKMs) are introduced in this concept. In conjunction with the gantry beam, four standalone spray painting units are assigned and two kinds of PKMs (i.e. 3-RPS PKM and 5 R symmetrical PKM, R: revolute joint; P: prismatic joint; S: spherical joint) are used as the execution mechanisms of the four spray painting units. Based on this concept design, the kinematic optimization of the device is carried out by taking the motion/force transmission performance into consideration and the geometric parameters are derived. Sequentially, a prototype is developed and its performance in the coating process is investigated by a series of spray painting experiments on a Jetta car body and a SUV car body. The finished surfaces have good quality in terms of luster, uniformity, and thickness. Thus, this newly developed spray painting robotic device provides a better choice or solution for the coating task in automotive industry, and has good application prospect in this field.