Autonomous Sewing Technology and System: A New Strategy by Integrating Soft Fingers and Machine Vision Technology

The garment manufacturing industry, being labor-intensive, has long faced challenges in automating the sewing process due to the flexibility and deformability of fabrics. This study proposes a novel strategy for automated sewing by integrating soft fingers and machine vision technology. Firstly, leveraging the flexibility and adjustability of soft fingers, combined with the motion characteristics of the sewing machine, a sewing model was established to achieve coordinated operation between the soft fingers and the sewing machine. Experimental results indicate that the fabric feeding speed and waiting time of the soft fingers are significantly correlated with the sewing speed and stitch density of the sewing machine, but not with the fabric properties. Secondly, machine vision technology was employed to inspect the quality of the sewn fabrics, achieving a classification accuracy of 97.84%. This study not only provides theoretical and technical support for the intelligent upgrading of the garment manufacturing industry but also lays the foundation for the automation of complex sewing processes such as quilting. Future research will further optimize the system’s performance and expand its applications in more complex sewing tasks.