Automating Lateral Shoe Roughing through a Robotic Manipulator Programmed by Demonstration

The footwear industry is known for its longstanding traditional production methods that require intense manual labor. Roughing, for example, is regarded as one of the significant and critical operations in shoe manufacturing and consists of using abrasive tools to remove a thin layer of the shoe’s surface, creating a slightly roughened texture that provides a better surface area for adhesion. As such, workers are typically subjected to hazardous substances (i.e., dust, chromium), repetitive strain injuries, and ergonomic challenges. Although robots can automate repetitive tasks and perform with high precision and consistency, the footwear industry is usually reluctant to employ industrial robots due to the need for restructuring. This paper addresses the challenge of re-designing the lateral roughing of uppers to allow robot-assisted manufacturing with minimal modifications in the manufacturing process. The proposed innovative system employs a robotic manipulator to perform roughing based on data collected from preceding manufacturing steps. Workers marking the mesh line of each sole-upper pair can simultaneously teach the manipulator path for that same pair, using a programming-by-demonstration approach. Multiple paths were collected by outlining a piece of footwear, converted into robot instructions, and deployed on a simulated and real industrial manipulator. The key findings of this research showcase the capability of the proposed solution to replicate collected paths accurately, indicating potential applications not only in roughing processes but also in similar tasks like primer and adhesive application.