Bring a little bit of Detroit to your local body shop. Home brew versions of X Y plotters are being created by hobbyists. Why noty scale up these low cost designs and have a robot auto painter follow an X Y plotter type track attached to the ceiling. The paint gun is attached to a telescoping pole attached to the X Y plotter. The plotter tracks could be raised and lowered to reduce the motion of the telescoping pole as it goes through it's motions. Motion stabilizing technology, such as a used in video cameras, could also be deployed in order to steady the paint gun. At the paint gun end of the pole is a wrist or universal joint, The joint, telescoping pole, and X Y plotter controls the position of the paint gun. Software would be written to control the machine in painting specific car makes and models, the body shop would purchase the logarithm as required -- creating profit for the maker . Over time the device and programs would pay for themselves for the usual man versus robot reasons: less down time, works three shifts, no lunch, etc. A similar low cost device could be created from robot car wash technology.
2020 11 21 This device will work for cars and other unusually shaped devises soon and then cab be called baked. Search the Internet for "Robots Invade the Construction Site."-- Sunstone, Aug 21 2008 I heard a pinstriping guy complain that this was already being done for pinstriping.-- normzone, Aug 21 2008 wouldnt you need a Z axis for cars ? to get around the bumber etc?-- g00r, Aug 22 2008 I've always thought that this was a great idea. I want it to render patterns and images please. (+!)-- WcW, Aug 22 2008 I've always thought that this was a great idea. I want it to render patterns and images please. (+!)-- WcW, Aug 22 2008 You still need a human to mask and in the end it would be easier to just make a car wash-type spraying system.
If you want something that does designs, you'll need more than XYZ plotting - you'll need to find the surface of the car and how the design relates to it. Then you need to keep track of it throughout the paint process.-- phoenix, Aug 22 2008 Mapping the surface by laser interferometry isn't that difficult, the kit is widely avaialble and dropping in price.
The painthead (sprayhead ?) would need six degrees of freedom to cope with XYZ positioning, and still maintain its position normal to the target.
Masking might not be needed if the nozzle were small enough, and electrostatics were incorporated, but small nozzles risk clogging.
Reducing it to its components, it's a robot arm with an inkjet printer head on the end. Should be Bakeable.
[+]-- 8th of 7, Aug 22 2008 random, halfbakery