Differential feed control applied to corner matching in automated sewing

This paper presents a new method for independent
feed control in an automated sewing cell. This is important
to match the corners of the parts as well as to compensate
for uncertain material characteristics and variations in the
length of the parts. In this method, the feed speed for the
two parts is controlled independently, based on measurements
of the endpoints of the parts while keeping an equal sewing
force in both parts. Different strategies for correcting errors are
presented and experiments are shown to evaluate the different
strategies. Possibilities for using the methods to match reference
points during the sewing are discussed.