Trajectory planning based on latitude for painting on spherical surface

A latitude method for the trajectory planning of spraying on spherical surface is presented. The latitude method is used to optimize the time and coating thickness in the spray painting. The start curve, the velocity of the spray gun and the width between neighboring paths are the main factors to affect the final coating quality. Spray painting time is determined by the start curve of the gun, while selection of the velocity and width contribute to the coating thickness together. Based on the paint deposition model of flat surface, the deposition model on the cylindrical surface is derived. The start curve on the spherical surface is derived from the Bounding-Box method. The spray gun velocity and the width between neighboring paths are determined through the optical function in which the coating thickness is the optimized target. The simulation shows that the latitude method presented in this paper can solve the problem of the trajectory planning on spherical surface.