Clothes of the future may be produced by robots

New Scientist : “In an age of precision engineering and on-demand manufacturing, when we can manipulate atoms and print nanosized-circuits for pennies, why do most of us still struggle to find clothes that fit?” asks Duncan Graham-Rowe for New Scientist. Because the cost of custom-tailored, hand-made outfits is prohibitive for most people, a €23 million ($33 million) European research project has been set up to completely automate the process. Called Leadership for European Apparel Production From Research along Original Guidelines ( Leapfrog ), the project not only makes use of current technology (such as laser scanners that precisely measure body size) but also has come up with a few innovations of its own. One is an automated tailor’s dummy that can change size and shape via a hydraulic system of wires, pipes, pistons, and valves, and even produce an array of pins that push out through its flexible mesh skin to hold pieces of fabric in place. Creating a prototype robot-only production line capable of turning out a suit jacket is more ambitious than it might seem, however, said project coordinator Lutz Walter of the Belgium-based European Apparel and Textile Confederation. Although the Leapfrog group has tested its automated production line by creating a simple jacket, the prototype still lacks sleeves, pockets, buttons, and a lining. It will be some time before the first completely machine-made suit hits the stores.