Robot End-effector for Fabric Folding

In this paper, we propose a robot end-effector for fabric folding along a straight line for garment production. In the garment production process, some of the edges of fabric parts of a garment need to be folded before sewing. A conventional automated folding system has a fixture designed for each shape and size of the folding part. The fixture is not universal. In the case of a pocket setter, for example, a pocket template of the fixture used for folding needs to be redesigned/reconfigured when the shape of the fabric part changes. A conventional automated fabric folding system is designed for the mass production of garments with the same shape and the same size. In this paper, we consider how to perform fabric folding without the use of a fixture, so that the same system could be used for folding fabric parts of different shapes and sizes. We propose a concept of a robot end-effector for fabric folding along a straight fold line and develop a prototype of an end-effector referred to as "F-FOLD"(Free-form FOLDing). Folding of the edge of a fabric part is achieved by moving F-FOLD along the desired straight fold line. Experimental results illustrate how F-FOLD folds a fabric part along a straight line.