自動化製衣難題被攻克 機器人縫出完整服裝

It's hard to teach a robot to sew.

教機器人縫紉是非常困難的。

Robots are good at handling materials that are rigid and easy to lift, cut and maneuver.

機器人擅長處理易於拿起、剪切、調轉的硬質材料。

But it's a different story with making clothes. Why? Fabric is floppy.

但做衣服卻是另一回事。爲什麼？因爲布料質地柔軟。

Jonathan Zornow's startup Sewbo in Seattle, the US, has found a way around that.

喬納森·佐爾諾在美國西雅圖創立的初創企業Sewbo找到了解決方案。

The solution was to temporarily stiffen fabric with a water-soluble polymer, making it rigid enough for a robot to handle.

這個方案就是利用水溶性聚合物將布料暫時硬化，達到機器人能處理的程度。

In 2015, Zornow, quit his day job as a web developer to focus on developing his robotic sewing system.

2015年，佐爾諾辭去了網頁開發師的工作，專心研發機器人縫紉系統。

He rented a programmable robotic arm and bought a standard sewing machine and an ultrasonic welder.

他租了一個可編程的機械臂，買了一架標準縫紉機和一個超聲焊接機。

His goal was to program the robotic arm to fully assemble a T-shirt from start to finish.

他的目標是爲機械臂編程，讓它從頭到尾完整地縫製一件T恤。

It followed a sequence of functions: a machine cuts cloth panels to be sewn, the panels are drenched with the polymer and stiffened, a robotic arm uses suction cups to lift each panel and position it in the sewing machine.

縫製一件T恤要經過一系列程序：機器裁剪衣料以便縫製，用聚合物浸溼衣料使其硬化，機械臂用吸盤拿起每塊衣料，將其放在縫紉機上。

Finally, the robotic arm lifts the stitched T-shirt off the sewing machine.

最後，機械臂再將縫好的T恤從縫紉機上拿起來。

"A single robot wouldn't perform all these tasks. It would be two or more robots along the assembly process," said Zornow.

佐爾諾表示:"單獨的一個機器人不能完成所有的這些任務。整個裝配過程需要兩個或者更多的機器人。"