Robotic Solutions helps develop robot spraying technology

Jasper-based Robotic Solutions and its partner CMA Robotics in Italy have developed a revolutionary method to program complex parts for robotic spraying using virtual reality.  

For the last 15 years, self-teaching technology has been widely used to program a spray robot. This process requires the operator to drag the robot arm around the part as if spraying it with the attached gun. If a mistake is made, then the operator must start over again. Everything is done with the robot, and no production spraying can occur while the operator is programming the robot. This process can be time-consuming and requires advanced skills to create a working spray program.

Virtual reality tracking allows the spray gun to be removed from the robot, and the operator can move freely around the part to be sprayed. An array of sensors virtually tracks these motions. It sends the saved program to an offline program editing software, allowing for simple refinements to be made while the robot sprays live production parts. 

Since 2019, Robotic Solutions has been the exclusive importer of CMA Spray Robotics for the United States. All parts and service support are managed from the company’s Jasper location. CMA developed the software to simplify the robot programming process several years ago. 

However, The need to upgrade the self-teaching method for programming spray parameters has been intensifying over the past few years.

“We have been collaborating back and forth with the factory to determine the best method to solve this issue,” said Rick Braun with Robotic Solutions. “We have been collaborating back and forth with the factory to determine the best method to solve this issue. Using the same software, we simply added an array of sensors around the spraying area and on the teach pendant, so we always know where the gun is pointed while detached from the robot.”

Once the component being programmed has been sprayed, the operator hits the save button, and this information is automatically sent to the offline software program to be edited–usually in the office. Errors in the spray path and trigger on-off timing can be refined to optimize cycle time and material usage.

This process will allow for more precise programming to reduce cycle times and material waste while being simple to operate offline away from the finish room.