As the automotive assembly line enhanced and modernized in excess of the earlier century, it opened up new opportunities for new cars to be personalized by drivers. BMW is having the next phase with customization with a freshly designed robot that can speedily paint motor vehicles with elaborate types like a big inkjet printer.
If, while skipping as a result of the channels, you have at any time landed on 1 of the quite a few truth exhibits that involve upgrading and customizing automobiles or other motor vehicles, then you’ve possibly seen the in depth operate that goes into producing a custom paint job. It’s a time-consuming process that will involve applying various paint colors layer-by-layer, with substantial masking in-amongst to guarantee that hues painted onto one area of a automobile never end up on an additional. It’s laborious and high-priced, and it is why manufacturing facility robots normally only paint motor vehicles in a single coloration.
Luxury automobile makers strive to deliver their customers with as lots of customization solutions as possible, even so, so BMW labored with yet another German enterprise, Duerr, to develop a new manufacturing facility robotic that can paint two-tone finishes, or create elaborate styles on a car or truck, without having any in-concerning masking needed. The robot’s known as the EcoPaintJet Professional and as a substitute of a traditional paint sprayer on the organization conclusion, it employs a contraption that’s not contrary to the print head on your inkjet printer. Jets of ink, as compact as fifty percent a millimeter in thickness, are sprayed through an orifice plate which results in outlined edges as it hits the auto. When merged with the precision actions of the EcoPaintJet Pro’s robotic arm, intricate styles can be created with transitions amongst hues that glance as crisp as if masking strategies, these kinds of as tape or stencils, experienced been employed.
At the BMW Dingolfing plant in Munich, the new robot and paint strategy is being piloted on 19 new BMW M4 Coupés that roll out of the manufacturing facility with a unique two-tone complete that includes M4 branding on the hood and tailgate that will be made use of by the firm. Ultimately, BMW wishes to extend the use of the EcoPaintJet Professional bot so its shoppers have much more affordable possibilities when it comes to customizing the visual appearance of their new cars, but there are other rewards to the new engineering.
The precision of the applied paint suggests there’s no overspray—extra paint that ends up inside a painting room that has to be cleared absent and disposed of, resulting in squandered elements and the use of harsh chemical compounds. BMW also believes the EcoPaintJet Pro will final result in lessen electrical power usage as it will modify how the sealed and hugely ventilated portray rooms in its factories work. “Since paint separation is no lengthier necessary, the amount of air required is also reduce. At all-around 7,000 running hrs, this benefits in strength price savings of extra than 6,000 megawatt-hours and lowers the carbon footprint by virtually 2,000 tonnes for each calendar year.”