AkzoNobel Aerospace Coatings has enhanced its Aerofleet Coatings Management service with a new drone-based inspection tool for aircraft paint maintenance.
The service adds the Iris CMX drone, developed with Donecle. The unit uses a three-in-one contact sensor to measure dry film thickness, colour and gloss, adding quantitative coating data to the Aerofleet platform.
Iris CMX operates alongside the Iris GVI drone, which captures high-definition images across the aircraft surface. The combined system feeds inspection data into AkzoNobel’s coatings management software and predictive models.
AkzoNobel said the system is designed to help airlines assess coating condition and determine repainting needs using inspection data, flight data and environmental inputs including UV exposure, humidity and route profile.
Michael Green, segment business services manager at AkzoNobel Aerospace Coatings, said the update builds on the company’s existing service.
“Aerofleet Coatings Management has always been about giving airlines greater confidence in when and why they maintain or repaint their aircraft. From the outset, we had a clear roadmap to enhance the service with more advanced measurement capabilities. The addition of the Iris CMX brings precise, consistent measurement into the process to strengthen the data that underpins our predictive models. It also allows us to support expert assessment with more objective, consistent and repeatable inspections, while improving the speed and efficiency of the inspection process.”
The system can be deployed with one drone per side of the aircraft. A narrowbody inspection can be completed in about 30 minutes.
The service targets fleets of 100 aircraft or more. AkzoNobel said it supports repainting decisions, reduces unnecessary maintenance and improves aircraft availability.
In collision repair, robotic systems are already in use in paint-related processes. Infrared curing robots, using gas-catalytic panels mounted on robotic arms, are used to apply controlled heat to filler, primer and clearcoat, reducing curing times from hours to minutes and integrating into prep bays and spray booth workflows.
Examples include Symach’s Drytronic robotic curing systems, deployed in FixLine production layouts at facilities such as Zenetec in Barrie, Ontario, and Lindsay Auto Body in Ohio, where multiple robotic curing stages are used across refinishing processes.
Robotics have also been applied to sanding and polishing. Multi-axis robotic arms equipped with force-controlled heads are used in high-volume facilities to deliver consistent pressure and uniform defect correction across panels.
Automation has extended beyond paint application and finishing. At Yonge Steeles Ford Lincoln in Toronto, a wheeled robot developed with Kalk Robotics transports parts between repair bays and the parts department, reducing technician wait times. The system has contributed to an increase of about two additional procedures per technician per day.
