JOT 2026 – Spray Pattern Analysis for Manual Spray Painting with SprayConeAI®

Manual spray painting remains one of the most demanding tasks in industrial surface coating. It requires experience, precise hand movement, and a deep understanding of paint material, spray gun settings, and spray pattern behavior. For this reason, digital tools can help make manual spray painting more transparent, measurable, and easier to compare.

SprayConeAI® supports digital spray pattern analysis for manual spray painting and industrial coating processes [1]. The web-based tool analyzes two-dimensional spray images and can convert them into three-dimensional representations. As a result, users can better understand spray shape, spray distribution, symmetry, and process stability.

[1] W. Schaefer and D. Wolter, “Digitale Analyse unterstützt die Handlackierung,” JOT Journal für Oberflächentechnik, vol. 66, no. 6, pp. 12–13, Jun. 2026, doi: 10.1007/s35144-026-3846-z.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s35144-026-3846-z

Manual spray painting is especially important for complex parts, small batches, repair processes, and non-standardized coating tasks. Even modern robot systems cannot fully replace skilled manual painters in all applications. However, manual processes often depend strongly on individual experience and movement patterns.

SprayConeAI® helps users document and analyze these processes. The tool makes spray patterns visible in a structured way. Therefore, it can support training, process comparison, quality control, and application development.

SprayConeAI® uses image-based analysis to evaluate spray patterns. Users can take a picture of a spray pattern with a smartphone, tablet, or camera. They can also upload an existing image.

The workflow is simple:

1. Open SprayConeAI.com.
2. Take or upload a spray pattern image.
3. Add optional comments about the test setup.
4. Use a calibration sticker if physical scaling is required.
5. Process the image and download the results.

With an optional calibration marker, SprayConeAI® can convert image data into absolute physical values. This makes the analysis more useful for technical documentation and comparison between different spray tests.

Spray pattern analysis helps users evaluate important properties of a spray. These include spray width, spray shape, symmetry, intensity distribution, and changes caused by spray gun settings or paint material.

In manual spray painting, these parameters strongly influence coating quality. Small changes in nozzle setup, air pressure, paint flow, distance, or hand movement can affect the final surface. Therefore, digital spray pattern analysis can help users detect differences that are difficult to judge by eye alone.

SprayConeAI® follows a privacy-friendly system approach. The tool does not store image data on external servers. Instead, the processing runs locally on the user’s device.

This architecture makes SprayConeAI® suitable for industrial environments with strict data protection requirements. In addition, users can work with the tool on desktop computers, tablets, and mobile devices.

SprayConeAI® already offers practical analysis tools for first applications. Further development will extend the analysis of more complex spray phenomena. Future functions may include donut-shaped spray patterns, surface property characterization, and color analysis.

These functions can increase the value of digital spray pattern analysis for manual spray painting, industrial coating, training, quality control, and process optimization.