A method comprising scanning a first painted surface of a first vehicle having two or more paint layers with a robotic terahertz radiation instrument to obtain a first painted surface thickness data and map for each of the two or more paint layers, comparing the first thickness map to a control map, and adjusting one or more paint application parameters based on a comparison of the first thickness map with the control map for painting a second surface of a second vehicle different than the first vehicle.

A method and associated system provides automated abrasive paint repair using automated abrasive paint repair devices that selectively sand, buff, and polish a substrate in response to received instructions generated by a controller. The controller receives coordinates of each identified defect in the substrate along with parameters describing characteristics of each defect, selects a sanding process, a buffing process, and/or a polishing process based on empirically derived rules established by skilled/expert human operators and the received parameters. The controller outputs instructions to cause the automated abrasive paint repair devices to execute the selected sanding process, buffing process, and/or polishing process using the received parameters. The empirically derived rules and parameters may be stored in a lookup table and/or updated by a machine learning module.

An automatic application device includes: a robot arm; an application hand configured to apply, to a workpiece, a paint that is a liquid; a force sensor configured to detect a force and a moment acting on the application hand; and a control section configured to control the robot arm in accordance with a parameter calculated from an output signal from the force sensor.

A processing method includes one or both of a first processing and a second processing for extracting a reference teaching point from teaching points. The first processing extracts a reference teaching point having a difference between a direction vector from a teaching point preceding the reference teaching point to the reference teaching point, and a direction vector from the reference teaching point to a teaching point succeeding the reference teaching point, being equal to or more than a threshold. The second processing extracts the reference teaching point having one of a difference between a posture at a teaching point preceding the reference teaching point and a posture at the reference teaching point, and a difference between the posture at the reference teaching point and a posture of a teaching point succeeding the reference teaching point, being equal to or more than a threshold.

Disclosed herein are a method for generating robot path data for robot path(s) to be followed by a robot including a coating tool during coating of at least part of the surface of a spatial substrate with at least one coating material spatial substrate, as well as respective apparatuses, or computer elements. Further disclosed is a robotic system for coating at least one surface of a spatial substrate with at least one coating material. The methods, respective apparatuses, or computer elements allow automated application of coating materials to substrates having a high variation in geometry and provide consistency of application in contrast to manual application of coating materials, for example during repair processes of automotives or automotive parts, which is highly dependent on the painter performing the application.

A controller of a robot system performs first control of controlling a robot arm in accordance with an operation with an operator to thereby cause an end effector to apply a treatment to an object and of recording trajectory data and second control of controlling the robot arm based on the trajectory data recorded in the first control to thereby move the end effector such that the end effector reproduces a moving trajectory and applies a treatment to the object. In the second control, in controlling the robot arm based on the trajectory data, the controller controls a pressing force of the end effector against the object.