A system for applying material to a part includes an application nozzle attached to a distal end of a robotic arm, a sensor coupled to the distal end of the robotic arm, an actuator mechanically coupled to the application nozzle, and a controller in communication with the actuator and configured to receive data from the sensor and detect a feature of the substrate. The robotic arm is configured to hold the application nozzle in a fixed position and/or traverse a predefined path such that the application nozzle traverses a predefined global bead path across and spaced apart from a substrate. The controller is configured to direct the actuator to move the application nozzle independent of the distal end of the robotic arm such that a bead of material flowing out of the application nozzle is applied to the substrate along a feature-relative bead path.

A robot synchronization sealer discharge system is provided. The robot synchronization sealer discharge system is interlocked with a robot for a sealer work of a vehicle factory and includes: a sealer gun mounted on a robot and moving along an application path of a vehicle body to discharge a sealer and a communication unit for receiving a TCP speed of the sealer gun moving based on robot operation. A synchronization controller assigns a unique ID and a received TCP time to the TCP speed and generates a discharge instruction message recording the sealer discharge amount according to the TCP speed. A sealer controller adjusts a discharge of the sealer gun based on the discharge instruction message and feeds back the sealer time according to a discharge completion to the synchronization controller.

A coating control apparatus includes operation control circuitry configured to control a coating device whose position and orientation are controlled by a robot in accordance with a command from robot control circuitry, robot information acquisition circuitry configured to acquire, from the robot control circuitry, robot data indicating an operation state of the robot, and a data processor configured to relate coating data which indicates an operation state of the coating device to the robot data.

A coating control system includes selection circuitry configured to select based on a user input a control target apparatus among a plurality of coating apparatuses which include different devices, parameter setting circuitry configured to determine a setting parameter according to the control target apparatus and set a value of the setting parameter based on a user input, and operation control circuitry configured to control the control target apparatus based on the value of the setting parameter.

The disclosure concerns a coating method and a corresponding coating device for coating components with a nozzle applicator with several nozzles, in particular for painting motor vehicle body components. The disclosure provides that the nozzle applicator is flexibly controlled during the coating method.

The present disclosure provides a method and system by which a precise amount of a viscous fluid sealing compound can be dispensed at required locations through computer vision-based observation of the fluid deposited, its rate and amount of deposition and location; and that the dispensed fluid may be accurately shaped through robotic or other special purpose mechanism motion. The invention enables instant quality inspection of the dispensing process in terms of the locations, amounts and shapes of newly created seals.

A control system including a discharge control circuit configured to control an application device such that a coating is discharged from a discharge circuit; a robot control circuit configured to cause an articulated robot to change a position and an orientation of the discharge circuit such that the coating is applied to a workpiece; an application abnormality detection circuit configured to detect an abnormality in an application state of the coating on the basis of at least one of a state of the device or of the robot; an application position calculation circuit configured to calculate an application position of the coating; and an abnormality notification circuit configured to send a notification of a site of an abnormality in the application state on the workpiece on the basis of a detection result of the abnormality in the application state and a calculation result of the application position.

A method and associated system for providing robotic paint repair includes receiving coordinates of identified defects in a substrate along with characteristics of the defects, and communicating the coordinates to a robot controller module along with additional data needed to control a robot manipulator to bring an end effector of the robot manipulator into close proximity to the identified defect on the substrate. The characteristics of the defect and current state of at least the end effector is provided to a policy server that provides repair actions based on a previously learned control policy that is updated by a machine learning unit. The repair action is executed by communicating instructions for the repair action to the robot controller module and end effector.

Apparatus and method for a painting machine are provided. The painting machine may include an end effector controlled by custom software. The painting machine may include a self-contained medium circulation system. The custom control software may be capable of coordinated n-axis manipulation of an end. Illustrative end effectors may include an inkjet head, brush, air brush or any suitable tool for applying ink, paint, color and/or texture to a surface. For example an end effector may utilize oil-based ink or ultraviolet-cured ink. Illustrative surfaces may include canvas, paper, brick, glass etc. The custom control software may control manipulation of the end effector based on a variety of electronic inputs. The custom software may manipulate different end effectors in different ways depending on the input data, type of ink/paint being used, type of surface receiving the ink/paint or any other variable.

A system for indicating degraded operation of a robotic paint station is provided. The system includes a paint nozzle operable to spray paint upon a work piece, a paint supply tube system including a plurality of paint supply tubes operable to supply a flow of paint to the paint nozzle, a vacuum system connected to the paint supply tube system and operable to remove air pockets from the paint supply tube system, a pressure sensor connected to the vacuum system, and a computerized robot control module. The computerized robot control module is programmed to monitor data from the pressure sensor, compare the data to a threshold pressure value, and generate a maintenance warning indicating degraded vacuum system operation based upon the comparing.