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Omnirobotic’s Shape-to-Motion Technology
provides a systemic approach to integrating
autonomous robots for spray processes. By
reducing the costs of integrating and making it
possible to function in a variety of workflows –
whether it’s standalone paint booths or
overhead conveyors – both the efficiency and
payback of the technology is accelerated.

Reduced Limitations for Jigging and Workflow the fundamental “rethink” that most finishing departments may
In order to truly reduce the cost of integrating robotics for finishing want to achieve, or simply need to achieve to exceed their goals.
processes, a robot must be able to step into an existing coating In this case, task planning can use a few components: in the
booth and conduct a process in a way that justifies any added cost context of a Digital Twin of the environment (which includes the
over existing workforce or equipment. In this case, a robot can 3D perception of any part processed), process knowledge, task
produce significant cost savings – whether it’s on productivity lags knowledge and motion ordinancing can all be used to “chunk” the
or bottlenecks, labor inefficiencies or consumables and energy various subroutines of a given process and then assemble them in
savings – hence justifying the added cost is simple if the system is the most efficient A-to-Z sequence possible.
practical to integrate. In this case, process knowledge can apply to things like faraday
In the case of autonomous robots, given the “low-profile” of caging in powder coating or drip risks in liquid coating. There are
sensing capacity, there are few limitations on where a sensor can be common strategies that experienced coaters use to avoid the down-
integrated. Because most robot models don’t exceed the spatial sides of these particular effects, but when a robot is trained to ac-
limitations of an everyday paint or coating booth, the combination count for them as well, it can ultimately limit any form of rework
of low-profile sensors and compact six-axis robots means there are required beyond the typical consistency and quality of final coating
limited added costs to incorporating a robot beyond the cost of the a robot can achieve.
hardware itself. This is in stark contrast to traditional, manually The implication here is that, in the case of high-precision or
programmed robots, where environments must effectively be compliance-driven industries, much finishing work also comes
designed around them in order to ensure nothing is out of place down to “refinishing”: exhaustive inspection of parts, added coat-
that may defeat the motion program and also to ensure that the ings, reducing or modifying thickness or reflectiveness, inspecting
motion program is accurately applied to the part being processed. and effectively going in a Boolean loop with all these activities until
This reduced jigging and workflow limitations have another a satisfactory output is achieved.
unique added-value: the ability to eliminate many of the costs that Process knowledge and expertise can overcome not just some of
come with advanced automated coating booths, particularly for the “know-how” limitations that robotics typically face, but it can
applications like powder coating. Many of these installations can actually bridge gaps and exhaustive, multi-stage rework-inspect-
cost north of $1 million, with three-axis coating booths allowing rework processes by achieving such a consistent and reliable out-
for quick manual programming on complex parts, but still often put with the addition of exact process specifications. As such, the
requiring rework on initial capital investment. productivity gain reaches beyond a simple basic improvement in
If you already have a finishing or coating operation, then you prob- output to an entire rethinking of process capabilities.
ably have a booth. This means that, aside from building the booth itself,
you face hardware costs of $50-75,000 up front, and while peripherals Part Surface Specification
may need to be replaced every few years, many industrial robots are Within Value-Added Processes
built to function for upwards of 20 years with minimal maintenance. Finally, because the “instruction” problem is easily solved with
As an initial capex, the savings are tremendous, especially when com- autonomous robots, they don’t just respond to a variety of never-
pared to limited rework on the backend. before-seen parts with maximal consistency, but they also enable
advanced recognition and specification to be rolled into their
Increase Efficiency in Multi-Process Finishing process know-how.
Ultimately, as the localization and manipulation processes are fig- For instance, CAD files of known parts can be used to generate
ured out, the planning aspects of an autonomous robot can take a recognizable 3D perceptions of shapes as they are seen, tying the
step beyond what finishing processes typically apply and allow for CAD file to the shape. Then, within the same software interface
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