ABB Robotics has created the world’s first robot-painted art car in collaboration with world-renowned artists: Advait Kolarkar, an eight-year-old Indian child prodigy, and Illusorr, a Dubai-based digital design group.
Without the need for human intervention, ABB’s award-winning PixelPaint technology has perfectly recreated Advait’s whirling monochromatic design as well as Illusorr’s tri-color geometrical patterns. The incredibly complicated artworks were completed in less than 30 minutes by ABB’s IRB 5500 paint robots, which were equipped with 1,000 nozzles in the printer head.
PixelPaint technology captures complex, elaborate detail that would be hard to produce by hand with extraordinary precision and speed. The paint can be applied in a single application if it is well regulated. This breakthrough in paint automation allows the car industry to offer more specific and individualised designs.
Sami Atiya, President of ABB’s Robotics & Discrete Automation business area says, “ABB’s PixelPaint technology is more than an evolution–it is a revolution. At a time when consumers want more customized products, PixelPaint is a game changer and allows any design to be replicated in a manner that is both sustainable and affordable.”
Influential automotive designer, Ian Callum, responsible for the design of the Aston Martin Vanquish and more recently the ground-breaking Jaguar I-Pace said, “There’s something very special about a car. People get emotionally attached to them and the importance of personalization is becoming stronger and stronger. In fact, I’m working with customers who actually want the whole car designed in a bespoke way. So this paint offering–with all sorts of new levels of individual design for a motor car–is incredible.”
PixelPaint technology also improves industrial sustainability by eliminating the need for masking materials and additional ventilation, resulting in lower emissions and water and energy savings. The paint head follows the vehicle body very closely, according to the firm’s RobotStudio software, to ensure that 100 percent of the paint is applied to the automobile with no airborne misting.
ABB restored a Volkswagen SUV that was damaged in Germany’s disastrous floods in the summer of 2021 to produce the art car. Its recycling demonstrates ABB’s dedication to environmental sustainability. Have a look at their demonstration by clicking here.
