Automatic painting

    Hey dear community

    I have a small project in front of me. I would like to set up an automatic paint sprayer in the low-budget area. My idea was to build a chamber in which spray guns are mounted in special places. 10l paint pressure tank installed. There is also a compressor. An arduino should regulate the pressure. So I still need a pressure regulator or something similar. Do you have any ideas what else i might need? Which pressure regulators are suitable for this?

    Im just don't finding any projects that show a similar system so i can use as a guide....

    In the distant future, a robotic arm will lift the components and move them in front of the nozzles. However, this is only for orientation as to where the project should go.

    Thanks for help :thumbs_up:

    Julian

    if you are going to do spray painting, start with research on tools for the job - spray guns. they will come with specs and requirements for pressure, supply CFM etc. pressure can be controlled either with manual valve or electrically using proportional controller.

    1) read pinned topic: READ FIRST...

    2) if you have an issue with robot, post question in the correct forum section... do NOT contact me directly

    3) read 1 and 2

    Thanks for your quick reply. Yes i have found some spray guns. From my point all of them are fine starting from 30- 500 EUR. For just testing i would buy one of the cheaper. The problem right now is the pressure control. Do you have a product for reference? Maybe one that i can control with arduino or computer. Here are some specs of components:

    Compressor:

    Spray gun:

    diameter: 1mm

    MPA(KG/cm): 0,29

    L/Min: 80

    ml/min: 250

    Duty Paint Tank Specifications:

    https://pl.aliexpress.com/item/100500398…3c00HbFf56&mp=1

    Pot Capacity: 2-1 / 2 Gallons / 10 L

    Paint Tank Working Pressure: 25-30 PSI Optimal

    Hose Assembly: 10 ft Air & Fluid Hoses Air

    Inlet: 1/4 inch

    Fluid Inlet : 3/8 inch

    ModelSTAHLWERK ST-1250 BL brushless supercharger
    connections1 x standard quick coupling

    (Nw 7.2 mm) 1/4 inch

    1 x standard quick coupling

    (Nw 7.2 mm) IT 1/2 inch
    Maximum pressure / output pressure12 bar (3 -12 bar)
    maximum flow500 L / Min
    Boiler content / volume50L
    engine power3,000 watts / 4 hp / 3 kW

    there are proportional pressure regulator from just about any company that makes pneumatics for automation (Festo, SMC etc.). they be controlled via fieldbus or analog IO (0-10V, 4-20mA or whatever).

    For example:

    https://www.smcworld.com/upfiles/pgpdf/SP164X-009E-ITV.pdf

    PLCs make this easy. Arduino is not exactly built for this and unless you can find suitable shield, you will need to make one yourself:

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    1) read pinned topic: READ FIRST...

    2) if you have an issue with robot, post question in the correct forum section... do NOT contact me directly

    3) read 1 and 2

    Keep in mind: paint fumes in a confined space make a great explosive. Much the same as a gas leak into a house.

    There's a reason that paint-booth robots are specially made -- electrical components in a volume filled with a mix of flammable/explosive gasses are a recipe for fire or explosion. If you're lucky, you'll only destroy your equipment.

    If you don't use explosion-proof hardware, you need some way to ensure that the the fumes in the booth can never build up to dangerous levels. AFAIK, the main way to do this is to use fans large enough to replace 100% of the air volume inside the booth within some short time period. You'll need to look up the relevant regulations for specifics.

    Thanks Panic Mode for the idea. I will take a look into it ! :smiling_face:

    Regarding your point "Skyfire". I have a fire proof steel box with a 5.000m³/h fan installed running the whole time. So about 1.3 m³/sec. So i will have a full ventilation cycle every 2 seconds. The whole Ventilation exhaust is made out of steel similar mounted like a fireplace exhaust. Do you have any idea what can be added for safety ?

    That sounds like enough to avoid the "explosive fumes" issue, but this isn't my area of expertise. As I understand it, different legal jurisdictions have their own specification for "air replacement every X seconds" to qualify safely.

    Added safety... off the top of my head, I would interlock the fan and the robot/paint sprayer so that no spray can happen unless the fan is running. So if the fan stops for some reason, the spray stops as well. Maybe automate the fan so that it has to be running for X seconds before the robot starts spraying, and has to stay on for Y seconds after the sprayer shuts off. Maybe 6sec or so, just for a healthy margin.

    If I wanted to get really fancy, I might add a fume detection system inside the cell and interlock that with the automation.

    Anything electrical inside the booth should be sufficiently IP-rated or enclosed against fumes and overspray. Exact ratings might depend on what kind of paints you're using, but you definitely don't want any exposed electrical contacts.

    Robot... with the rapid fume extraction, I think a normal (non-explosion-proof) robot might be okay, but again, that needs checking against your jurisdiction's rules. Wrapping the robot in a cover might not be a bad idea, just to avoid overspray landing on the bearings, connectors, and other elements. There are some companies that make giant "robot condoms" that cover the robot from base to wrist, and can be pressurized from inside to keep all fumes out.

    I have just been down this road!!!

    I got an IRB5500, straight forward enough, but the paint side was completely left to me.

    I bought guns and pumps and bits of Ebay to start with and experiment until I knew what I needed.

    The spray guns are easy enough to get.

    You probably want proportional air to control the shape I guess?

    That is fairly big money for an experiment. I just started with 3 mini regulators and 3 off 3/2 valves and just worked off pre-set pressures. 3 valves gives you 4 fan shapes, thats more than enough for me. You will need non-return valves in each line though.

    I used Wagner zip52 pumps. cheap enough. Pressure pots are a pain as you can never tell how much paint is in them.

    Now we are up and running, we are upgrading and replacing with new where necessary as Ebay used stuff can be pretty naff!!!

    For example, a AGMD spray gun just for robots is a wad of money, but transformed us with it's consistency and repeatability.

    We have built a booth and kept true to ATEX zones with extraction.

    Must say though, the cheapest part of the installation has proved to be the robot!!!! The ancillary paint stuff needed goes on for ever!

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