Personalisation in the automotive industry is big business and ABB has unveiled its plans to meet demand with a new robot designed to recreate paintings.
ABB Robotics has collaborated with eight-year-old Indian child prodigy Advait Kolarkar and Dubai-based digital design collective Illusorr to create the world’s first robot-painted art car.
With one eye on sustainability and recycling, the car itself is a Volkswagen Tiguan – recovered from the floods Germany suffered in the summer of 2021.
Car painting can often be a laborious task, taking many hours if not days between coats, but ABB’s robot is equipped with 1,000 nozzles in the printer head, which allows the artwork to be completed in less than 30 minutes. ABB says its ‘PixelPaint’ technology can be applied in a single coat and can open the door to specialised and personalised designs for the automotive market.
Sami Atiya, President of ABB’s Robotics & Discrete Automation said: “At a time when consumers want more customised products, PixelPaint is a game-changer and allows any design to be replicated in a manner that is both sustainable and affordable.”
There’s also the possibility of automotive firms using the technology for the painting of production cars. The firm’s RobotStudio software helps the paint head track close enough to the bodywork to ensure 100 per cent of the paint is applied, meaning nothing’s wasted. ABB says car manufacturers can halve production time and reduce costs by up to 60 per cent by using this technology.
Alastair Crooks