Automated straight-line sewing of stretchable fabrics with different lengths
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Different Length Alignment Sewing (DLAS), which involves stretching the shorter fabric to match the longer one and sewing them together in a straight line, is a challenging task that needs to satisfy several requirements when automating the sewing process. To address the challenges, this research proposes a novel robotic sewing system, Different Length Robotic Sewing System (DLRoSS), which consists of a roller type end-effector, attached to a 6-DoF manipulator. The end-effector composed of active shorter and longer fabric rollers, and a passive press-roller attached to the shorter-fabric roller. Assuming that one end of the two fabric layers are initially positioned under the sewing machine’s presser foot, the system automates DLAS by operating in four distinct phases. (P1) Fabric wrapping: Individual fabric layers are picked, held, and wrapped from the other end onto the feed rollers. (P2) Sewing: During the sewing, the shorter fabric is stretched and aligned with the longer fabric in real-time using roller velocity control based on the sewing speed and apriori known length ratio. (P3) Sewing completion: In the final sewing round on the fabric rollers, the press roller is engaged to prevent the stretched fabric from slipping off due to internal tension. (P4) Sewing fabric release: At the end of sewing, the fabric edge moves past the press roller, and the fabric releases from the rollers. Experimental results demonstrate that DLRoSS achieves consistent, high-quality sewing of stretchable fabrics of different materials and lengths.
Date Issued
2025-11-11
Date Acceptance
2025-10-01
Citation
IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2025, 10 (11), pp.12165-12172
ISSN
2377-3766
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Start Page
12165
End Page
12172
Journal / Book Title
IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Volume
10
Issue
11
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2025 IEEE. This is the author’s accepted manuscript made available under a CC-BY licence in accordance with Imperial’s Research Publications Open Access policy (www.imperial.ac.uk/oa-policy)
License URL
Subjects
Clothing
CURVED EDGES
End effectors
Fabrics
Feeds
Fixtures
Grasping
Grippers
Grippers and other end-effectors
MANIPULATION
mechanism design
methods and tools for robot system design
Presses
Robot sensing systems
ROBOT-HANDLING FABRICS
Robotics
Robots
Science & Technology
SYSTEM
Technology
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2025-10-09