The development of a robotic handling cell to perform the stripping operation in garment manufacture

This paper describes the development of a robotic handling cell that performs the stripping operation in garment manufacture. Stripping is the process of removing garment piece parts from a cutting table and loading them onto a transportation system which feeds the pieces to sewing stations where the garments are made. The concept of automated stripping is completely novel and the development from initial feasibility study through to implementation is presented. The requirement of the cell to fit in with the CIM concept and the necessity of an automated planning and programming environment are discussed