Robotic Fabric Alignment System for Sewing Using Global Local Weighted ICP

2026-08-10

AI Summary

This work addresses the challenge of simultaneously aligning fabric edges and stitching lines with high precision prior to sewing, particularly under occlusion and arbitrary initial poses. To this end, the authors propose an automatic alignment system based on a Global-Local Weighted Iterative Closest Point (GLW-ICP) algorithm. The method integrates a weighted registration strategy that combines global edge points and local stitching-line points, while dynamically rejecting outlier correspondences from occluded regions during point cloud registration, thereby significantly enhancing both robustness and accuracy. Coupled with CAD model matching and robotic manipulation, the system achieves millimeter-level alignment accuracy across diverse fabric shapes, demonstrating its effectiveness and reliability in real-world sewing scenarios.

Abstract

Accurate fabric alignment is a critical step that must be performed before sewing. This paper presents a novel automated fabric alignment system. The system estimates the poses of top and bottom fabric panels, lying flat and wrinkle-free in arbitrary positions, using a new Global Local Weighted Iterative Closest Point (GLW-ICP) method. The system then manipulates the top panel to achieve precise alignment at both edges and sewing lines. Unlike conventional approaches, GLW-ICP robustly aligns both global edges and local sewing lines by globally aligning fabric edge points and locally aligning sewing line points to their corresponding CAD model points, while removing unmatched points in occluded regions. Real-world experiments with various fabric shapes show that the system consistently achieves millimeter-level alignment accuracy under both occlusion and non-occlusion conditions, demonstrating its effectiveness and suitability for automated fabric alignment in practical scenarios.

Problem

• fabric alignment
• sewing automation
• pose estimation
• occlusion handling
• precision alignment

Innovation

• GLW-ICP
• fabric alignment
• robotic sewing
• Iterative Closest Point
• occlusion handling