Work

Intelligent and Precise Textile Drop-Off: A New Strategy for Integrating Soft Fingers and Machine Vision Technology

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This study presents a novel drop-off strategy for automated fabric handling in intelligent apparel manufacturing, addressing the critical challenge of drift-free placement of lightweight, flexible textiles. A pneumatically driven retractable plate is introduced as an auxiliary device, along with machine vision technology, to eliminate drop-off deviations inherent in traditional soft grippers. By synchronizing the retraction motion of the plate with soft gripper release, the fabric is transferred onto the target surface without free-fall drift, achieving sub-0.5 mm alignment accuracy across 15 fabric types. Machine vision-based inspection validates drop-off quality in real time. This work offers a low-cost, drift-free drop-off solution for pre-sewing automation.

Source: Textiles

DOI: 10.3390/textiles5030034

Authors: Jinzhu Shen, Álvaro Ramírez-Gómez, Jianping Wang, Fan Zhang, Yitong Li

Institutions: Donghua University, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Tongji University

Language: English

Topic: Robot Manipulation and Learning

Subfield: Control and Systems Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,207