Optimisation method for calculating an optimised movement path of a coating robot which guides an application device over a component surface to be coated, comprising the following steps: a) defining successive path points (P1-P6) of the movement path through path point data, wherein the path point data for each path point a1) firstly at least partially define the spatial position (XP n, YP n, ZP n) of a reference point of the application device at the respective path point (P n), in particular a paint impact point, and a2) secondly at least partially define the spatial orientation (XR n, YR n, ZR n) of the application device at the respective path point (P n), and b) calculating possible robot configurations for the individual path points of the movement path, b1) wherein each robot configuration comprises all the axis positions (a1-a7) of all the robot axes (A1-A7) and b2) at least some of the path points (P1-P6) are respectively optionally achievable by means of a plurality of different robot configurations, characterised by the following step: c) calculating a path point-related quality value (PQ n,m) respectively individually for the different possible robot configurations of the individual path points, so that a quality value (PQ n,m) is assigned to each robot configuration, and d) selecting one of the possible robot configurations for the individual path points dependent upon the path point-related quality value (PQ n,m) of the different possible robot configurations. a) defining successive path points (P1-P6) of the movement path through path point data, wherein the path point data for each path point a1) firstly at least partially define the spatial position (XP n, YP n, ZP n) of a reference point of the application device at the respective path point (P n), in particular a paint impact point, and a2) secondly at least partially define the spatial orientation (XR n, YR n, ZR n) of the application device at the respective path point (P n), and a1) firstly at least partially define the spatial position (XP n, YP n, ZP n) of a reference point of the application device at the respective path point (P n), in particular a paint impact point, and a2) secondly at least partially define the spatial orientation (XR n, YR n, ZR n) of the application device at the respective path point (P n), and b) calculating possible robot configurations for the individual path points of the movement path, b1) wherein each robot configuration comprises all the axis positions (a1-a7) of all the robot axes (A1-A7) and b2) at least some of the path points (P1-P6) are respectively optionally achievable by means of a plurality of different robot configurations, b1) wherein each robot configuration comprises all the axis positions (a1-a7) of all the robot axes (A1-A7) and b2) at least some of the path points (P1-P6) are respectively optionally achievable by means of a plurality of different robot configurations, c) calculating a path point-related quality value (PQ n,m) respectively individually for the different possible robot configurations of the individual path points, so that a quality value (PQ n,m) is assigned to each robot configuration, and d) selecting one of the possible robot configurations for the individual path points dependent upon the path point-related quality value (PQ n,m) of the different possible robot configurations.