Robotic spray system

A hyper-redundant manipulator spray system for depositing an engineering coating material on a component that is located within a gas turbine engine, the hyper-redundant manipulator spray system comprises:

• a hyper-redundant manipulator arm that has a proximal end and a distal end;
• an end effector that is located at the distal end of the hyper-redundant manipulator arm, the end effector having an atomizing nozzle unit and a burner head, the burner head having a supply of a flammable fluid;
• an actuator pack that is located at the proximal end of the hyper-redundant manipulator arm and controls movement of the hyper-redundant manipulator arm;
• and
• a tank for holding the engineering coating material to be deposited on the component;
• wherein the burner head has at least one jet and an air nozzle, the burner head being configured to combust the flammable fluid supplied by the supply of flammable fluid and eject the combusted flammable fluid from the jet to form a combustion zone around a resulting flame, the air nozzle being aligned with the jet to direct a flow of air from a supply of air towards the component;
• and
• the atomizing nozzle unit is configured to receive a supply of a suspension of engineering coating material from the tank and is provided with a pressurised gas feed to atomize the engineering coating material, the atomizing nozzle unit being positioned to direct a spray of the engineering coating material into the flame provided by the burner head that propels the spray of the engineering coating material on to the component upon which the engineering coating material solidifies.