PixelPaint overspray-free technology uses inkjet heads to eliminate overspray, increasing speed by 50% and enhancing sustainability, ensuring that two-coat paints and personalized designs can be applied in a single pass without masking and demasking.

Millennials are driving the demand for greater personalization, increasing the need for personalized car paint schemes using a second color, different topcoats (such as matte), or special designs.

Previously, applying two-tone or custom designs to car bodies was a time-consuming and labor-intensive process that required vehicles to pass through the paint line twice: once for the first coat, and again for the second color after masking areas. Typically, masking the car body required approximately 10 to 20 operators per shift, and two additional operators were needed to unmask it after applying the second color.

Only 70% to 80% of the paint is applied to the car body surface, resulting in significant paint waste and increased costs due to recycling and the purchase of additional paint.

ABB's innovative PixelPaint solution combines high-DPI spray nozzles, dosing kits, and easy-to-use RobotStudio® programming software for two-tone and decorative painting applications.

"In today's competitive automotive manufacturing market, automakers need solutions that help them improve flexibility, efficiency, and cost competitiveness while providing high-quality paint finishes, including personalized options to meet the growing demand for non-standard and custom designs," said Michael Larsson, General Manager of ABB Robotics Automotive OEM. "With PixelPaint, 100% of the paint is applied to the car body surface, so there is no overspray. By ensuring no paint is lost, this not only reduces operating costs and improves environmental performance, but PixelPaint also eliminates the masking and demasking process for each vehicle, helping to reduce bottlenecks in automotive paint shops."

Using two ABB IRB 5500 robots allows Pixelpaint to be used as a cell. The overspray-free technology prints paint directly onto the target area using print nozzles instead of traditional atomizers, achieving 100% transfer efficiency.

Custom painting jobs can be completed in a single pass without masking or demasking, reducing cycle time by approximately 50%.

ABB's paint-free PixelPaint solution was recognized as a breakthrough innovation, receiving the "Technology" award at the SURCAR annual conference in Cannes in 2019-6. SURCAR is the global forum for the body finishing community.

In addition to robots and specialized equipment, ABB provides standardized production cells for the automotive industry, as well as the design, planning, and implementation of complete production lines. The ABB Ability™ platform enables customers to benefit from various digital services, such as process optimization and predictive maintenance.

PixelPaint overspray-free technology

ABB's PixelPaint overspray-free technology eliminates the need for time-consuming masking and demasking methods used for two-tone spraying in the automotive industry, significantly reducing time and costs, improving productivity, and expanding the possibilities for custom painting solutions to meet customer demands.

Today, consumers have increasingly high demands for cars, requiring personalized painting solutions, whether for contrasting colors or personalized finishes and designs. This demand can now be met more easily with ABB's PixelPaint solution, which integrates inkjet heads, dosing control kits, IRB 5500 painting robots, and easy-to-use RobotStudio programming software for two-tone and decorative painting applications.