A drone that paints walls by holding on to them

PrintDrone presses itself onto a wall with its own propellers, drives along it on wheels, and sprays paint from the tank it carries. No hose, no cable, no lift.

Holding on to the wall keeps the spray at a steady distance and speed, which an even coat needs. The design is complete; the first full-size drone is not yet built.

How it works

  • It holds on with its propellers.The drone tips onto the wall, and its propellers keep pushing it there. No suction and no magnets.
  • It drives on motorized wheels.It moves along the wall at a set speed instead of drifting in the air.
  • It carries its own paint and battery.Nothing trails down to the ground, so it can work where a hose or cable would snag.

Patents

The patents cover a drone that is not tied to the ground, drives along a wall on motorized wheels while it hovers, and paints from a tank it carries. They run to 22 April 2035.

US 9,815,078 B2United States, granted 14 November 2017
EP 3 134 316 B1Europe, granted 22 May 2019, in force in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain
IL 248346Israel, in force since 1 July 2017

What has been done

  1. International patent filing for the invention.
  2. A 5 kg printing drone shown on video.
  3. The sixth prototype held itself on an indoor wall, drove on four wheels and printed up to four A4 sheets per flight while driving.
  4. A complete design for a full-size painting drone of about 24 kg, with a parts list, a test plan and a budget.

The prototype at work

The sixth PrintDrone prototype pressed against a wall beside the image it printed The prototype seen from the front, holding itself on the wall

The sixth prototype, held on an indoor wall by its own propellers and powered through a cable, printing an image on paper sheets while it drives (2023–2024). More in the videos.

What we are looking for

A partner to fund building and testing the first full-size drone, with a team it chooses, or a company that wants to license the patents.

Contact

Roi Neustadt, inventor and patent holder