Background
Most apparel manufacturing is done abroad, which leads to lengthy supply chains. This supply chain issue poses a significant risk, as seen when the U.S. struggled to scale up production of PPE. This project team will leverage results from a previously funded ARM project to expand upon it by delivering a modular work-cell that can be configured to perform end to end automated assembly of PPE, such as isolation gowns.
Objective
Spur automated solutions in robotic sewing, specifically to more quickly and safely manufacture personal protective equipment (PPE).
Technical Approach
This project builds upon a previously funded ARM technology project and addressing ARM’s strategic technical focus area for Reconfigurable Robotic Systems.
Current methods for clothing manufacturing rely on manual labor for handling fabrics. Robots are not widely used due to challenges handling limp, compliant materials. A new approach has been under development through the ARM Institute: Temporarily stiffening the fabrics so they can be easily handled by robots. The biggest advantage is the ability to break complex operations apart into simple steps. Without stiffened fabrics, tasks must be performed simultaneously by complex machines still rely on labor for handling
Participants
Siemens Technology (PI) Partners: Sewbo, Henderson Sewing, ISAIC, Bluewater Defense