A method for accurate simulation of robotic spray application using empirical parameterization

As part of the development of SPRAYTOOL, an accurate simulator of robotically applied spray coatings on sculptured surfaces, a tabular technique was developed for representing with arbitrary accuracy the spray pattern from a robot sprayer. The method allows parameterization of this spray distribution using a single spray test pattern applied by the robot, without symmetry assumptions. The thickness of the test pattern is measured at a user-specified grid of points. These data are used to calculate a least-squares solution to an overdetermined set of linear equations, with optional user-scalable smoothing (via regularization) to suppress effects of measurement noise. In closed-loop testing of the parameterization and simulation process using pseudorandom noise in the measurement data, the solution table entries typically contain less noise than the individual thickness measurements on which they are based