This technology makes vehicle painting much more efficient and sustainable - manufacturers can react more flexibly to special customer requirements. The advantage: two-tone and individual designs can be applied in just one pass. There is no more paint mist (overspray).

"The jury is delighted to recognize ABB's PixelPaint technology with the 17th IERA Award," says jury chairman Rob Ambrose. "The innovative solution for automated car painting combines more flexibility and customization with better environmental sustainability."

Save paint

When using a conventional spray head, 20 to 30 percent of the paint was previously lost through overspray. The PixelPaint inkjet head, on the other hand, applies 100 percent of the paint to the vehicle surface, thereby improving the environmental balance. ABB is also significantly increasing the efficiency of car painting with this technology. The reason: a two-tone paint job with an individual design used to be extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive. The vehicle had to be painstakingly masked before each paint application and run through the paint line at least twice. The new system only requires one pass and speeds up the customized painting process by a good 50 percent. In addition, there is no need to purchase and dispose of the masking material.

"In the highly competitive automotive market, manufacturers need solutions for greater flexibility, efficiency and cost competitiveness," says Jörg Reger, Managing Director of ABB Robotics Auto OEM Business Line. "At the same time, they need to deliver high-quality paint finishes with individualized options to meet the increasing demand for customized designs."

"Congratulations to ABB for the 2021 IERA Award - PixelPaint won in a strong field of finalists," says Milton Guerry, President of the International Federation of Robotics. "All four finalists represent the success story of an innovative product in robotics and automation. They combine the needs of today's manufacturers with a high degree of user-friendliness."

The finalists

Barcelona-based company INFAIMON presented its InPicker - a universal pick-and-place system for industrial applications. Berlin-based Micropsi Industries took part with its MIRAI software - an AI-based control system that enables industrial robots to deal with variances in production. Mobile Industrial Robots from Odense in Denmark presented the MiR250, a user-friendly mobile robot that optimizes material flows in all industries.