ABB Robot Paints AI Mural at City=Gallery
ABB combined advanced robotics and artificial intelligence to create a one-of-a-kind artwork for the City=Gallery Street Art Festival in Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic, home to Škoda’s central plant. In collaboration with the Škoda Auto Endowment Fund, Škoda Auto, PPG and the festival organisers, ABB Robotics deployed its IRB 5500 robot artist to paint a large-scale, AI-designed mural shaped by public ideas.
“We are thrilled to take robotics out of the factory and into the heart of the community,” said Joerg Reger, Managing Director of ABB Robotics Automotive Business Line. “We’re not only demonstrating precision engineering – we’re showcasing how technology can respond to people’s creative ideas and bring them to life in a way that’s interactive and inspiring.”
An online vote enabled the public to define the mural’s style, mood and themes. Škoda Design translated those choices into inputs that guided the AI tools to generate the final artwork. An ABB robot equipped with award-winning PixelPaint technology, which uses 1,000 individually controlled nozzles similar to an inkjet printer, then reproduced the design with complete precision on the wall of the Pastelka Art School.
“As an international company, Škoda Auto knows that innovation and sustainability are only possible with strong local roots. Through the Škoda Auto Endowment Fund, we have long supported public space, education and innovation in the Mladá Boleslav region. The robotic artist project is a perfect example of this – bringing together art, new technologies and community participation in a way that makes those values visible on the walls of our city. It shows how strengthening local communities also strengthens the company. That’s why we act locally to remain strong internationally, and why we are proud to co-organise the City=Gallery festival for the fourth time,” said Endowment Fund director Ladislav Kučera.
Initially developed for the automotive industry, PixelPaint enables intricate patterns to be applied in a single pass without masking, making it uniquely suited to transform an AI-generated image into a large-scale mural.
PPG provided an advanced waterborne basecoat formulated for ABB’s PixelPaint to deliver reliable performance and precision. For the mural, PPG adapted its coating system to the demands of street art, adding a fast-drying primer and a topcoat that provides UV protection and weather resistance.
The live robot painting on 4 and 5 September drew headline attention at the festival. The groundbreaking collaboration between ABB, the Škoda Auto Endowment Fund, Škoda Auto, the City=Gallery festival, and PPG marked the event’s first robot artist.
City=Gallery continues a long tradition of transforming public spaces into open-air galleries, a practice seen across cities worldwide. This year in Mladá Boleslav, the festival united art, technology, and community in a live collaboration that demonstrated how people and machines can work together while connecting local voices to a broader cultural movement.
