PRODUCTION line software specialist plm has released the eM-Paint software on the Australasian market that enables automotive paint plants to design, test and optimise coverage programs in the office environment, without interrupting production.
The software addresses the entire painting process from designing the robot path, determining coverage parameters and thickness, to simulating and downloading the optimised program to the machine on the shopfloor.
It is designed for painting, sealing, gluing, sanding and thermal spray applications that use robots, electrostatic and other automated machines.
Main features include an automatic path creation for the robot or the machine; easy program maintenance and simulation of painting processes; and display of paint thickness during simulation.
The software enables users to analyse their programs by simulating a display material utilisation, fluid flow rate, paint gun on/off positions, TCP speed and cycle time.
It includes a unique paint-parameter calibration feature that accurately computes and displays the paint build-up on the painted surface in different colours.
Also, it allows the interactive modification of paint parameters, robot or machine speed, paint gun distance and gun opening and closing positions until the optimum program is obtained.
Automatic path creation with minimal cycle time
The program creates path segments automatically based on workplace geometry and user-defined parameters, while keeping the gun normal to - and at constant distance from - the surface. It provides full visualisation of all the past segments, paint fan parameters and paint coverage.
The simulation enables the user to optimise quality, cycle time and paint material utilisation, and to check machine or robot reachability before downloading the optimum program to the shopfloor.
Modularity for easy program maintenance
The software has tools that create modular programs to easily introduced new models, product variations and colour changes. By changing a few sets of parameters, programs are easy to maintain and re-use.
Perfect painting thickness
Paint thickness on the painted surface is calculated according to paint parameters like the profile of the paint fan, the speed of the paint gun, the distance to target surfaces, the rotating angle of the paint fan, and the angle between the paint spray direction and the normal to the surface being painted.
The profile of the paint fan is defined by simple parameters or by mathematical equations describing its behaviour. Paint parameters can be interactively modified, while paint thickness is simultaneously displayed in multi-colours on the painted surface, until the optimum coverage is reached.
Line and rail tracking
Creating line and rail traffic programs is typically a very complex task. eM-Paint simplifies the task by automatically calculating the conveyors motion with respect the rail position and delivers smooth tracking programs with minimum interference to production.
Benefits include higher quality of coverage, optimised programs and cycle time, reduced number of spray brushes, reduced paint utilisation, minimum downtime of paint shop robots, and shorter painting design time.