IMAGINE a robotic tailor and you probably think of something like Ginsberg and Cohen, the fractious cyborgs in Woody Allen鈥檚 film Sleeper. Now a 鈥渟ewbot鈥� has been built for real and it鈥檚 far more capable, and less crabby, than Allen鈥檚 creations.
This is an impressive achievement; we have been trying to make machines that can manipulate soft materials for decades. The sewbot can measure, cut and stitch a garment with little help (see 鈥�Rag-trade robots: From body scan to bespoke suit鈥�). We are entering a world of mass-produced tailor-made clothes.
There is admittedly something mundane, not to say comical, about a sewing robot. We still think of robots as doing macho and heroic things, like building cars or searching for earthquake survivors. The sewbot should help banish that myth and shape a more rounded view of robotics.
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