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US 11,686,028 B1Granted
System and method for automated joining of fabric pieces
AssigneeCreateMe Technologies LLC
InventorsHossein Mousavi Hondori, Mostafa Ghobadi Shahreza, Weixin Yang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
One embodiment can provide an apparatus. The apparatus can include a robotic arm, a pair of jaws coupled to the robotic arm configured to grip a fabric piece at a pair of predetermined locations, a force sensor coupled to the jaws and configured to measure a tension force applied to the fabric piece by the jaws, and a control module configured to control movements of at least one jaw based on the measured tension force, thereby allowing the fabric piece to be stretched.
Claims19
An apparatus, comprising:
- a first robotic arm and a second robotic arm;
- a first pair of jaws coupled to the first robotic arm configured to grip a first fabric piece at a first pair of predetermined locations, and a second pair of jaws coupled to the second robotic arm configured to grip a second fabric piece at a second pair of predetermined locations, wherein a first distance between the first pair of predetermined locations is substantially equal to a second distance between the second pair of predetermined locations;
- a first force sensor coupled to the first pair of jaws and configured to measure a first tension force applied to the first fabric piece by the first pair of jaws;
- a second force sensor coupled to the second pair of jaws and configured to measure a second tension force applied to the second fabric piece by the second pair of jaws;
- a first control module coupled to at least one jaw of the first pair of jaws and configured to control a first movement of the at least one jaw of the first pair of jaws based on the first measured tension force, wherein the first pair of jaws are attached to same wrist of the first robotic arm and are oriented in parallel to each other, and wherein the at least one jaw of the first pair of jaws is configured to move away from the other jaw to stretch the first fabric piece between the first pair of predetermined locations;
- and
- a second control module coupled to at least one jaw of the second pair of jaws and configured to control a second movement of the at least one jaw of the second pair of jaws based on the second measured tension force, wherein the second pair of jaws are attached to same wrist of the second robotic arm and are oriented in parallel to each other, and wherein the at least one jaw of the second pair of jaws is configured to move away from the other jaw to stretch the second fabric piece between the second pair of predetermined locations.
4 more elements
A computer-implemented method, comprising:
- controlling a first and second pair of jaws attached to a first and second robotic arm respectively, the first pair of jaws operable to grip a first fabric piece at a first pair of predetermined locations and the second pair of jaws operable to grip a second fabric piece at second pair of predetermined locations, wherein a first distance between the first pair of predetermined locations is substantially equal to a second distance between the second pair of predetermined locations, and wherein the first pair of jaws are attached to a same first wrist of the first robotic and are oriented in parallel to each other, and wherein the second pair of jaws are attached to a same second wrist of the second robotic arm and are oriented in parallel to each other;
- moving at least one jaw of the first pair of jaws away from the other jaw of the first pair of jaws to stretch the first fabric piece between the first pair of predetermined locations and moving at least one jaw of the second pair of jaws away from the other jaw of the second pair of jaws to stretch the second fabric piece between the second pair of predetermined locations;
- measuring a first tension force applied to the first fabric piece by the first pair of jaws and measuring a second tension force applied to the second fabric piece by the second pair of jaws;
- and
- in response to the measured first and second tension forces substantially matching a predetermined desired tension force, stopping the movement of the at least one of a first jaw and a second jaw, thereby achieving a desired stretching effect on the fabric piece.
2 more elements
A garment manufacturing system, comprising:
- a computer-vision module configured to determine a plurality of first and second joinder locations on corresponding edges of a first and second to-be-joined fabric pieces;
- a first robotic arm comprising a first pair of jaws configured to grip a first fabric piece at a first pair of determined joinder locations, wherein the first pair of jaws are attached to a same first wrist of the first robotic arm and are oriented in parallel to each other;
- a second robotic arm comprising a second pair of jaws configured to grip a second fabric piece at a second pair of determined joinder locations, wherein the second pair of jaws are attached to a same second wrist of the second robotic arm and are oriented in parallel to each other;
- a first force sensor coupled to the first pair of jaws and configured to measure a first tension force applied to the first fabric piece by the first pair of jaws;
- a second force sensor coupled to the second pair of jaws and configured to measure a second tension force applied to the second fabric piece by the second pair of jaws;
- a first control module coupled to at least one jaw of the first jaw and configured to control a first movement of the at least one of the first jaw to move the at least one of the first jaw away from the other first jaw to stretch the first fabric piece between the first pair of determined joinder locations;
- a second control module coupled to at least one jaw of the second jaw and configured to control a second movement of the at least one of the second jaw to move the at least one of the second jaw away from the other second jaw to stretch the second fabric piece between the second pair of determined joinder locations;
- and
- a fabric-joining module configured to join the to-be-joined first and second fabric pieces at the corresponding first and second edges.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.