Communications of the ACM
Rag-Trade Robots: From Body Scan to Bespoke Suit
The Leadership for European Apparel Production From Research along Original Guidelines (Leapfrog) project aims to develop completely automated clothing-production systems.
Leapfrog is a collaboration of 35 industrial and academic partners from 11 countries that is working to create a prototype robot-only production line capable of producing a suit jacket. The computer-controlled sewbots are designed to manipulate and stitch fabrics with the same dexterity, speed, and cost as a human operator. Leapfrog is currently developing ways to give robotic fingers more dexterity, as well as ways to attach fabric to the desired shape.
Meanwhile, Hugo Boss already is using a Leapfrog-developed system to compare fabric color. Leapfrog's automatic stitching techniques are being used to assemble products such as air bags and life jackets, and this technology could potentially allow the clothing trade to respond more rapidly to what people want to wear, rather than guessing and getting it wrong, says Hugo Boss's Thomas Koep.
From New Scientist
View Full Article - May Require Free Registration
Abstracts Copyright © 2011 Information Inc. 
, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
No entries found