Painting parts automatically at lot size one

Today industrial automated spray painting is characterized by off-line robot programming and manual teach-in methods. This work reports an "inverse approach" that automatically generates the painting motion enabling part painting of lot size one. The principle of this new approach is based on formalizing the technological knowledge in a geometry library and a process library. Laser range sensors are used to obtain an accurate scan of the part. Process-relevant classes of features are detected as specified in the geometry library and linked to basic paint strategies. Painting results for car parts and different motors with gearboxes are shown.