Modern robotic automation technology has transformed manufacturing systems across many sectors. However, in the field of fabric assembly, which is one of the most labor-intensive industries in the world, there has been very little increase in automation over the past several decades. There are several challenges to contend with when automating fabric assembly tasks including the compliant material nature of fabric, the high frequency of task changes, and the feedback and adjustment required to successfully complete the tasks. A robotic fabric manipulation and assembly system is created based around a Yaskawa SDA10F industrial robot. Computer vision capabilities are integrated into the system to measure the process adjustments that are necessary when performing fabric assembly tasks. The system is designed to account for variability in material placement and composition and to be easily re-configurable to perform new tasks. The system’s capabilities are evaluated by having it perform a proof of concept fabric assembly task with varied input material. Because the SDA10F robot has a high input command latency, a custom three degree of freedom wrist was constructed to perform corrections in real-time by adjusting the position and velocity of the end-effector. The accuracy of the wrist was independently tested to evaluate how it could improve the total system’s functionality.

Creator

• Briggs, Calum R.

Contributors

• Calli, Berk
• Gennert, Michael A.
• Popovic, Marko B.

Degree

• MS

Unit

• Robotics Engineering

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• etd-4181

Advisor

• Popovic, Marko B.

Committee

• Calli, Berk
• Gennert, Michael

Defense date

• 2020-08-13

Year

• 2020

Date created

• 2020-08-16

Resource type

• Thesis

Rights statement

• In Copyright

Last modified

• 2023-09-20