The Rise of Spray Painting Robots in Industrial Maintenance Services

In an interaction with Industry Outlook, Som Sengupta, Director of Specialty Products and Services, shares his insights on the rise of spray-painting robots in industrial maintenance services. He highlights the painting robots' crucial role in different sectors, their innovative futuristic approach in the field, and the challenges faced while operating these key systems. 

Som Sengupta has been the director of Specialty products and services for more than 10 years. With these years of experience he combines the innovation into the human working environment and effectively leverages the output of the production. He is very well known for his innovative leadership.

With infrastructure ageing and industries prioritizing asset longevity, how are service companies leveraging spray painting robots to deliver precision maintenance in sectors like oil & gas, power, and marine?

Spray painting robots are not widely used for maintenance work in heavy industries, especially in India. Many developed nations have been using painting robots for this work, but in India, it’s still nascent.

But due to the environmental hazard and the risk associated with the job, these robots are witnessing a major demand. These innovations can work in extreme conditions, for a longer period and can endure physical risk. Imagine human labor working in extreme heat conditions, for longer hours in confined spaces, with residual hazards. Working under such physical risks will be a huge challenge for humans.

This is where the robots will be replacing, particularly in the oil and gas industries, where work is more related to tanks, such as storage tanks, capital industry storage tanks, marine industry ships and large flat surfaces, where it is easier for the robots to work rather than the humans. This is where we will be witnessing the replacement of humans with robots. The usage of robots in these activities is more noticeable only when there is a proper supply to meet the demand. Hence, it is still nascent in India.

Also Read: Smart, Flexible Schmalz Grippers Enable Seamless Automation in India

What are the unique logistical and operational challenges of deploying spray painting robots in unpredictable field environments — such as offshore rigs or large industrial tanks — and how are service teams overcoming them?

At present, there is no solution in India for industrial asset inspection and maintenance. There are multiple phases of maintenance in which robotic assistance can help. One can select drones, crawlers, spray robots and many other robots, based on the requirement. But, pre-painting robotic solutions are still in development as they face challenges due to specific geometrical complexities and environmental conditions. Similarly, maintenance robots have to adapt to complex structures such as flats, curves and ridged surfaces.

When it comes to painting, precision is extremely crucial. Selected drones must fly steadily and follow exact paths, and crawlers must move straight in controlled lines. All of these require advanced control systems with real-time sensors, which will help in maintaining precision and correct movements continuously. The challenge arises here as there is a need to achieve high-precision robotics in dynamic environments.

In what ways do robotic spray systems improve coating consistency, reduce overspray, and minimize environmental impact during large-scale industrial maintenance projects?

Spray paintings done by humans are often seen with inconsistency. For example, when a person is doing manual spraying with an airless spray gun, usually due to miscalculation between the distance, angle, position and their position shifting, the result will often result in too thick or too thin paint being done.

But with robotic spray systems, this can be eliminated. Once we calibrate and train the robots, these innovation can carry out the functions automatically and finish the job precisely. Only human intervention is needed for these robots is to calibrate them in understanding the right angle, speed and distance for painting. By this, one can achieve greater levels of accuracy, the right level of DST, drives in thickness, and one can avoid the overutilizing and underutilizing of the paint.

Apart from these qualities, these systems can also work for longer hours, unlike humans, who often get tired after long hours of work. Even when a robot is working for 68 hours continuously, it will still maintain consistency in its work.

Also Read: Key Technologies for Modern Overhead Cranes: Enhancing Safety and Efficiency

How are industrial service companies investing in upskilling field technicians to manage robotic painting tools, remote diagnostics, and real-time system calibration?

Investing in upskilling the robots is very futuristic for the company. Usually, the employees are trained to do one specific job, like painting. Due to the inefficient working nature and the complex mode of working environment, the task may not be achieved to the required quality. Thus, the same employee can get trained in handling the robotic systems.

Operating spray guns, drones, and painting systems are futuristic upskilling. Human control is needed to the extent of robots can do the operation automatically. This training for the robots is essential in providing quality service. Different robots require different training methodologies, which need to be assisted by humans.

For instance, the management of crawling robots is more complex compared to the handling of drones. Crawling robots utilizes the magnetized robots for painting, whereas managing drones needs special attention to distance, speed and positioning. Those who are certified in managing drones and robotics will be considered at large in the future industry.

How do safety protocols and site-specific compliance requirements shape the deployment of robotic painting systems in hazardous or high-access environments like refineries or chimneys?

Different industries have different governing standards for safety compliance. For international or European standards, there is the ATEX directive, which is specially designed for an explosive atmosphere. In India, we have PESO for the explosive safety organisation, which has set up the IS standards like ISIC lines, which govern the safety of the equipment needed under different explosives. So these protocols are crucial as they avoid huge accidents in the chemical-prone industries.

Along with the utilisation of robots in the working environment, these safety protocols need to be adhered to, particularly in the gas and oil industries. If these measures are not followed, this can lead to an increase in temperature and affect the robotics, environment and workers in the area.  

Also Read: AI-Powered Industry 4.0: Redefining the Future of Manufacturing Ops

Looking ahead, how will advancements in mobile robotics and AI-enabled spray systems redefine the economics and scalability of industrial maintenance services across India?

Advancements in mobile robots and AI-enabled spray systems will be a huge game changer in industrial maintenance, unlike humans. When we think of humans in the working environment, we can observe inconsistency and loss of performance over time. But robots can work simultaneously for 24 hours and do the job consistently. Another huge benefit of having robots is that they can get the job done in difficult environments where working is dangerous.

With automation and AI, in the future, the human intervention of operating the robots and machines can also be eliminated by adapting human intelligence to the AI. So, humans who are overseeing these robots are having a passive task rather than an active task, where intervention is needed only in case of an emergency. The rest of the task can be done without human intervention, by the robot itself, by image recognition, and algorithms that can be adapted into the robots

All functions of these robots can be pre-designed based on the task. But human intervention will be required with only complex geometries, which robotics has found difficult to address. When we look into the functions in the industry, 80 percent of the jobs is done by robots.