Meet Robo-Tailors: Robots Gluing Your Next Eco-Friendly T-Shirt!

Robots are becoming more common in many industries, from building cars to helping doctors in hospitals. However, making clothes is still a big challenge for robots. Most of the clothes we wear are made by people, even though they use machines to help them. This is because fabric is soft and floppy, which makes it hard for robots to pick up and move around. Cam Myers, who started a company called CreateMe, says that sewing is especially difficult for robots. They have to keep two pieces of fabric lined up while they move, which is not easy for a machine.

CreateMe has come up with a new way to make clothes. Instead of sewing, their robots use glue to stick pieces of fabric together. The robots put down a special glue, then press another piece of fabric on top. This method is already being used to make women's underwear, and soon they will start making t-shirts too. If this works well, they could start making lots of t-shirts next year. Myers says that if just 10 percent of t-shirt making moved back to the US with the help of robots, it would be a big change for the industry. The glue they use is very strong and does not melt in the washing machine or when ironed. Clothes made this way do not have seams, so they look smooth and can be shaped to fit the body.

But making clothes is not just about t-shirts. People like to have many choices, with different colors, shapes, and designs. Robots are not yet able to make all these different kinds of clothes. Some people, like Palaniswamy Rajan from Softwear Automation, think that sewing will always be important. For example, jeans need to have visible stitches to look good. His company is working on sewing robots that can make t-shirts as cheaply as importing them from other countries. However, he does not want to share details about how their robots work because it is a competitive business.

Many companies are trying to make robots that can handle fabric, but they keep their technology secret. Meanwhile, people who make clothes are worried about losing their jobs, especially after factory closures during the pandemic and other problems. Some people say that workers should try to find better jobs, but switching to robots will not happen overnight.

One big advantage of using robots to make clothes is that it could help the environment. Every year, a huge amount of fabric is wasted, and making clothes uses a lot of water and energy. If robots make clothes closer to where people live, it could reduce waste and pollution. A study found that making a t-shirt with a robot in Europe or the US could cut pollution by about 45 percent compared to making it in Asia. However, other parts of making clothes, like dyeing the fabric, are still hard to do with robots.

Some companies, like Robotextile in Germany, are making special robot hands that can pick up soft fabric. These hands use air to lift the fabric and then grab it. Right now, these robots are mostly used for special products like bike bags or airbags for cars. Michael Fraede from Robotextile thinks it will take about ten more years before robots are used a lot in Europe for making clothes. He says the clothing industry is used to saving money, so they are slow to change.

Others are more hopeful. Lauren Junestrand from the UK Fashion and Textile Association says that the UK could use more robots in clothing factories. She thinks robots and people will work together, with robots helping with some jobs and people doing others. In the future, we might see more robots making our clothes, but people will still play an important role.