Robot Sewing Machines Could Make ‘Made in China’ Obsolete
12th June 2012
Americans may never again buy clothes labeled “made in China” if robot sewing machines can beat Chinese costs of labor. The Pentagon has given $1.2 million to a Georgia Tech spinoff company to turn that futuristic concept into reality.
Such computer-controlled sewing machines must precisely move fabric under the needle “stitch by stitch” and carefully track passing threads — a job normally done with human hands and eyesight. Success could lead to automated U.S. factories that “produce garments with zero direct labor,” according to the contract issued by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on June 5.