Pain Points of Traditional Spray Applications
In spray applications, traditional industrial robots depend on offline programming and manual teaching on the teach pendant, leading to the following core pain points:
High Upfront Investment and Skill Barrier
Software cost: Specialized offline programming software must be purchased or licensed, which is expensive.
Operator skill barrier: Operators must simultaneously possess robot-programming knowledge, CAD model handling ability, and spray-process experience. Such compound talent is scarce and commands high salaries, with long training cycles — making it difficult for ordinary workers to quickly ramp up.
Long Development Cycle, Slow Response
Cumbersome workflow: Each step — obtaining accurate 3D models, importing software, path planning, collision detection, and process simulation — is time-consuming. For simple or single-piece tasks, programming time can far exceed actual spray time.
No "what you see is what you get": Programs are generated fully in a virtual environment, so any minor on-site variation (such as fixture wear or workpiece tolerances) may cause the spray to miss the target and require readjustment, leading to repeated debug cycles.
Poor Flexibility, Weak Adaptability
Difficult modifications: When a design change or model change occurs, even a small modification often requires complete reprogramming — unlike programming-free teaching, which simply retraces the robot path.
Dependence on initial-condition precision: The system depends extremely heavily on the absolute positioning precision of the workpiece, fixture, and robot. If there are accumulated errors in the on-site positioning, the perfect offline-generated program may be entirely unusable.
Unfriendly to Small-Batch / Customized Production
For single-piece, small-batch, or highly customized products, the combined time and cost of programming and debugging can exceed manual spraying — defeating the purpose of automation. Programming-free teaching enables rapid response in these cases.
Spray Industry Status and Trends
Spraying is an essential process across industries — widely used in automotive parts, home appliances, 3C electronics, hardware, ceramics, and beyond.
In recent years, with accelerating trends toward consumer upgrades and brand differentiation, the market has imposed higher requirements on spray finish, production efficiency, and flexibility. Consequently, "high-mix, low-volume, fast delivery" is gradually becoming the mainstream production mode.
However, traditional spray processes rely primarily on operator experience and industrial-robot manual programming/teaching, and are prone to inconsistency, programming difficulty, and low efficiency — failing to meet market demands.
iNexBot Programming-Free Teaching System
To address the spray industry's pain points, iNexBot has launched a programming-free teaching system. Built on a Linux + C/C++ + Qt technology stack and integrating a high-performance motion controller with an industrial touch panel, the system supports EtherCAT bus communication for millisecond-level real-time response.
The system replaces traditional programming with a "hand-guided teaching" approach. Operators simply hold the robot end-effector and walk through the spray path once; the system automatically records the trajectory, velocity, and pose — no code required, delivering a true zero-programming experience.
Compatible with multiple industrial robot brands and models, the system covers spray painting, gluing, oiling, and other process scenarios. It is widely applied to hardware spraying, toy spraying, and electronic-product coating.
System Architecture
The system uses a modular architecture of motion controller + touch panel + robot + sensors. The controller is the central hub: it communicates in real time with robot joints, I/O modules, and sensors over EtherCAT, and connects to the industrial touch panel to provide the HMI. The system can integrate external devices such as conveyors, spray-gun controllers, and vision systems, forming a complete automated spray workstation.
Core Software Features
Trajectory Recording and Replay
The system home page integrates trajectory recording, replay, and selection. Users can directly create a new trajectory or select an existing one; enter teaching mode via the "Record" button, complete hand-guided teaching of the spray path, and save. During trajectory replay, real-time monitoring of each axis's motion data and trajectory duration is available.
The system supports one-click import and export of trajectories. Once a complete trajectory is created, it can quickly replicate to all similar equipment, greatly simplifying batch deployment and line changeover.
Quick Calibration
The system provides multiple calibration modes from 1-point to 4-point, supporting tool-coordinate (TCP) calibration and workpiece-coordinate calibration. Linear and angular errors are automatically computed, ensuring the spray path aligns precisely across different workpieces. Combined with the automatic pick-position function, calibration can be completed in minutes.
Trajectory Management
The trajectory-management module supports search-by-name, multi-select batch operations, deletion, and import/export. Each trajectory record includes trajectory duration and creation time, and supports paginated browsing. For high-mix scenarios, a recipe library can be pre-built and called up at the touch of a button during changeovers.
S-Curve Velocity Planning
The system has built-in S-curve velocity-planning. Through precise control of the Jerk, the motion is divided into seven phases — positive-acceleration ramp, constant acceleration, negative-acceleration ramp, constant velocity, deceleration ramp, constant deceleration, and deceleration ramp — achieving smooth velocity transitions. Compared with trapezoidal velocity profiles, S-curves significantly reduce mechanical shock and vibration, improving spray-trajectory smoothness and film-thickness uniformity.
The system also supports multiple interpolation modes — straight line, arc, NURBS, B-spline, etc. — with arc-corner transitions and adaptive interpolation sampling that automatically densifies sampling points in highly curved regions, ensuring precision and efficiency for complex curved-surface spraying.
