Mobile Sprayer Overlap Adjustment for Precise End-Point Coverage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Automated mobile painting systems face challenges in ensuring precise and efficient fluid application, particularly in adjusting overlap distances and navigating around non-spray areas, which can result in uneven coatings and increased material costs.
Innovation Solution
An automated mobile sprayer equipped with a mobile base, a spray module movable along a vertical axis, front sensors for look-ahead data, and a control module that dynamically adjusts overlap distances and navigates based on sensor data to apply fluid orthogonally and avoid non-spray areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a fixed overlap distance is used for spray application, then the spraying process is simple and fast, but the final stripe may not reach the endpoint accurately resulting in gaps or uneven coverage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by transitioning from a fixed overlap distance to a dynamic overlap adjustment mechanism. The system continuously monitors the distance to the endpoint using sensors and adjusts the overlap distance in real-time based on the remaining distance. This allows the spray system to adapt its parameters dynamically, ensuring the final stripe reaches the endpoint accurately while maintaining simple operation throughout the process.
2Measurement precision
If the sprayer continuously monitors distance to endpoint, then the spray coverage precision is improved, but the system complexity and computational load increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by using sensors to continuously measure the distance to the endpoint and feeding this information back to the control system. The control system then adjusts the overlap distance based on this feedback, creating a closed-loop control mechanism. This ensures high measurement precision is achieved while keeping the control logic relatively simple through straightforward feedback-based adjustment.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies self-service by automatically adjusting its own operation parameters based on sensor data without requiring external intervention. The control system autonomously calculates the required overlap adjustment and implements it, reducing the need for complex external control mechanisms while maintaining high precision.
3Adaptability or versatility
If robotic arms with multiple joints are used, then the painting system can reach complex component geometries, but the system complexity and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the complex mechanical robotic arm system with a simpler mobile sprayer platform. Instead of using multiple joints and degrees of freedom to achieve adaptability, the system uses a mobile base that can move to different positions and a spray module that can adjust its orientation. This substitution reduces mechanical complexity while maintaining the ability to cover various component geometries through coordinated movement and positioning.
Data Source
AI summary
An automated mobile sprayer (AMS) (10) applies fluid sprays to a target surface. The AMS can operate according to a wall-follow routine, where the AMS maintains a spacing and orientation relative to the target surface and shifts a set distance between each spray pass. The AMS is also operable in an overlap adjustment mode where a control module (24) of the AMS actively determines the distance that AMS shifts between each spray pass such that AMS applies the final orthogonal spray on the target surface at an end point of the target surface.