Its hard to teach a robot to sew.教教机器人缝纫是十分艰难的。Robots are good at handling materials that are rigid and easy to lift, cut and maneuver.机器人擅长于处置更容易拿起、剪切、调转的硬质材料。But its a different story with making clothes. Why? Fabric is floppy.但做到衣服毕竟另一回事。为什么？因为布料质地坚硬。

Jonathan Zornows startup Sewbo in Seattle, the US, has found a way around that.乔纳森·佐尔诺在美国西雅图创办的初创企业Sewbo寻找了解决方案。The solution was to temporarily stiffen fabric with a water-soluble polymer, making it rigid enough for a robot to handle.这个方案就是利用水溶性聚合物将布料继续硬化，超过机器人能处置的程度。In 2015, Zornow, quit his day job as a web developer to focus on developing his robotic sewing system.2015年，佐尔诺辞任了网页研发师的工作，专心研发机器人缝纫系统。He rented a programmable robotic arm and bought a standard sewing machine and an ultrasonic welder.他出租了一个可编程的机械臂，买了一架标准缝纫机和一个成像焊接机。

His goal was to program the robotic arm to fully assemble a T-shirt from start to finish.他的目标是为机械臂编程，让它从头到尾原始地缝制一件T恤。It followed a sequence of functions: a machine cuts cloth panels to be sewn, the panels are drenched with the polymer and stiffened, a robotic arm uses suction cups to lift each panel and position it in the sewing machine.缝制一件T恤要经过一系列程序：机器剪裁衣料以便缝制，用聚合物曝晒衣料使其硬化，机械臂用管状拿起每块衣料，将其放到缝纫机上。Finally, the robotic arm lifts the stitched T-shirt off the sewing machine.最后，机械臂再行将缝好的T恤从缝纫机上拿一起。

A single robot wouldnt perform all these tasks. It would be two or more robots along the assembly process, said Zornow.佐尔诺回应:分开的一个机器人无法已完成所有的这些任务。整个组装过程必须两个或者更好的机器人。

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