ABB · PixelPaint
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Robotic Execution
ABB Robotics · PixelPaint
A procedural artwork collaboration with ABB Robotics: PixelPaint is a robotic painting system capable of applying intricate designs directly onto vehicles with zero overspray and unmatched precision. Art, technology and automation, merged. Built by ILLUSORR.
ABB Robotics needed to demonstrate the creative potential of PixelPaint: a robotic painting system capable of applying intricate designs directly onto vehicles with zero overspray and unmatched precision.
We collaborated with ABB Robotics to showcase the capabilities of their groundbreaking PixelPaint technology. Our role was to design and generate a unique piece of procedural artwork that would put the system's creative potential on full display.
Using algorithmic design workflows, we developed a three-colour abstract composition optimized for the robot's precision tools: a design tuned as much to the machine as to the eye.
The artwork was then digitally mapped onto a car body using ABB's proprietary layout tools, preparing it for seamless robotic execution. The robot replicated the design flawlessly across the vehicle surface.
The collaboration highlighted how technology, art and automation can merge: transforming industrial robotics into a tool for creative expression, and pointing toward the future of customizable automotive production.
The project moved from generative concept to physical execution across four tightly integrated stages.
Algorithmically designed patterns that reflected movement and fluidity: created with genetic algorithms inspired by nature and the car's motion, scripted in HoudiniFX to generate unique forms.
A three-colour palette selected for maximum visual impact and technical accuracy during robotic application: tuned to both the composition and the constraints of the PixelPaint head.
Integration of the artwork with ABB's PixelPaint system to ensure exact placement on the vehicle surface. The generated morphologies were adapted into curves the robot could read and reproduce.
The robot replicated the design flawlessly: demonstrating PixelPaint's potential for personalization and efficiency in automotive manufacturing, with zero overspray.
From a generative brief to a painted vehicle: genetic algorithms, colour optimization, robotic tool-path mapping and flawless physical execution.
Genetic algorithms inspired by nature and the car's movement generated various morphologies in HoudiniFX: unique forms selected and refined for their fluidity and visual rhythm.
The chosen composition was reduced to a three-colour palette and adapted into a form the robotic system could understand: balancing visual impact against the technical accuracy the PixelPaint head demands.
The ABB Robotics team mapped a tool path based on the artwork's curves, allowing the robot to reproduce the design efficiently and place it exactly onto the vehicle, with zero overspray.
" PixelPaint highlights how technology, art and automation can merge: transforming industrial robotics into a tool for creative expression, and pointing toward the future of sustainable, customizable automotive production.ILLUSORR × ABB Robotics
