Partial Fabric Flattening for Seam Line Region Using Dual-Arm Manipulation

Youchun Ma; Fuyuki Tokuda; Akira Seino; Akinari Kobayashi; Mitsuhiro Hayashibe; Bingchen Jin; Kazuhiro Kosuge

doi:10.1109/ICMA65362.2025.11120540

Partial Fabric Flattening for Seam Line Region Using Dual-Arm Manipulation

Youchun Ma^*
, Fuyuki Tokuda
, Akira Seino
, Akinari Kobayashi
, Mitsuhiro Hayashibe
, Bingchen Jin
, Kazuhiro Kosuge

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapters, Conference Papers, Creative and Literary Works › RGC 32 - Refereed conference paper (with host publication) › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Robotic fabric flattening is essential for precision sewing. Existing methods primarily focus on an entire fabric flattening operation by the robot. This operation is inefficient for sewing and is also limited by the robot's workspace. In this paper, we propose a partial fabric flattening method using a dual-arm manipulator, specifically targeting regions around the seam line. Our method first employs a deep learning-based segmentation model to identify seam lines and wrinkles, and then selects the biggest wrinkle within a seam-aligned bounding box. A geometric pipeline determines the manipulation points, and a dual-arm manipulator performs symmetric pulling between the manipulation points using the impedance control method. Experimental results show that the proposed method effectively removes wrinkles around the seam line. © 2025 IEEE.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	2025 IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation (ICMA)
Publisher	IEEE
Pages	1173-1178
Number of pages	6
ISBN (Electronic)	979-8-3315-1426-6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/ICMA65362.2025.11120540
Publication status	Published - Aug 2025
Externally published	Yes
Event	22nd IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation (IEEE ICMA 2025) - Beijing, China Duration: 3 Aug 2025 → 6 Aug 2025 http://2025.ieee-icma.org/

Publication series

Name	IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation, ICMA

Conference

Conference	22nd IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation (IEEE ICMA 2025)
Abbreviated title	ICMA 2025
Place	China
City	Beijing
Period	3/08/25 → 6/08/25
Internet address	http://2025.ieee-icma.org/

Funding

This work is supported in part by the Innovation and Technology Commission of the HKSAR Government under the InnoHK initiative. The research described in this paper is conducted in part at the JC STEM Lab of Robotics for Soft Materials, funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust.

Research Keywords

Deep learning
Dual-arm manipulation
Fabric manipulation
Partial flattening

Access Output

10.1109/ICMA65362.2025.11120540

Other Access Options

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Cite this

Ma, Y., Tokuda, F., Seino, A., Kobayashi, A., Hayashibe, M., Jin, B., & Kosuge, K. (2025). Partial Fabric Flattening for Seam Line Region Using Dual-Arm Manipulation. In 2025 IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation (ICMA) (pp. 1173-1178). (IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation, ICMA). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICMA65362.2025.11120540

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title = "Partial Fabric Flattening for Seam Line Region Using Dual-Arm Manipulation",

abstract = "Robotic fabric flattening is essential for precision sewing. Existing methods primarily focus on an entire fabric flattening operation by the robot. This operation is inefficient for sewing and is also limited by the robot's workspace. In this paper, we propose a partial fabric flattening method using a dual-arm manipulator, specifically targeting regions around the seam line. Our method first employs a deep learning-based segmentation model to identify seam lines and wrinkles, and then selects the biggest wrinkle within a seam-aligned bounding box. A geometric pipeline determines the manipulation points, and a dual-arm manipulator performs symmetric pulling between the manipulation points using the impedance control method. Experimental results show that the proposed method effectively removes wrinkles around the seam line. {\textcopyright} 2025 IEEE.",

keywords = "Deep learning, Dual-arm manipulation, Fabric manipulation, Partial flattening",

author = "Youchun Ma and Fuyuki Tokuda and Akira Seino and Akinari Kobayashi and Mitsuhiro Hayashibe and Bingchen Jin and Kazuhiro Kosuge",

year = "2025",

month = aug,

doi = "10.1109/ICMA65362.2025.11120540",

language = "English",

series = "IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation, ICMA",

publisher = "IEEE",

pages = "1173--1178",

booktitle = "2025 IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation (ICMA)",

address = "United States",

note = "22nd IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation (IEEE ICMA 2025), ICMA 2025 ; Conference date: 03-08-2025 Through 06-08-2025",

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Ma, Y, Tokuda, F, Seino, A, Kobayashi, A, Hayashibe, M, Jin, B & Kosuge, K 2025, Partial Fabric Flattening for Seam Line Region Using Dual-Arm Manipulation. in 2025 IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation (ICMA). IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation, ICMA, IEEE, pp. 1173-1178, 22nd IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation (IEEE ICMA 2025), Beijing, China, 3/08/25. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICMA65362.2025.11120540

Partial Fabric Flattening for Seam Line Region Using Dual-Arm Manipulation. / Ma, Youchun; Tokuda, Fuyuki; Seino, Akira et al.
2025 IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation (ICMA). IEEE, 2025. p. 1173-1178 (IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation, ICMA).

Research output: Chapters, Conference Papers, Creative and Literary Works › RGC 32 - Refereed conference paper (with host publication) › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - Partial Fabric Flattening for Seam Line Region Using Dual-Arm Manipulation

AU - Ma, Youchun

AU - Tokuda, Fuyuki

AU - Seino, Akira

AU - Kobayashi, Akinari

AU - Hayashibe, Mitsuhiro

AU - Jin, Bingchen

AU - Kosuge, Kazuhiro

PY - 2025/8

Y1 - 2025/8

N2 - Robotic fabric flattening is essential for precision sewing. Existing methods primarily focus on an entire fabric flattening operation by the robot. This operation is inefficient for sewing and is also limited by the robot's workspace. In this paper, we propose a partial fabric flattening method using a dual-arm manipulator, specifically targeting regions around the seam line. Our method first employs a deep learning-based segmentation model to identify seam lines and wrinkles, and then selects the biggest wrinkle within a seam-aligned bounding box. A geometric pipeline determines the manipulation points, and a dual-arm manipulator performs symmetric pulling between the manipulation points using the impedance control method. Experimental results show that the proposed method effectively removes wrinkles around the seam line. © 2025 IEEE.

AB - Robotic fabric flattening is essential for precision sewing. Existing methods primarily focus on an entire fabric flattening operation by the robot. This operation is inefficient for sewing and is also limited by the robot's workspace. In this paper, we propose a partial fabric flattening method using a dual-arm manipulator, specifically targeting regions around the seam line. Our method first employs a deep learning-based segmentation model to identify seam lines and wrinkles, and then selects the biggest wrinkle within a seam-aligned bounding box. A geometric pipeline determines the manipulation points, and a dual-arm manipulator performs symmetric pulling between the manipulation points using the impedance control method. Experimental results show that the proposed method effectively removes wrinkles around the seam line. © 2025 IEEE.

KW - Deep learning

KW - Dual-arm manipulation

KW - Fabric manipulation

KW - Partial flattening

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105015980575

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DO - 10.1109/ICMA65362.2025.11120540

M3 - RGC 32 - Refereed conference paper (with host publication)

T3 - IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation, ICMA

SP - 1173

EP - 1178

BT - 2025 IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation (ICMA)

PB - IEEE

T2 - 22nd IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation (IEEE ICMA 2025)

Y2 - 3 August 2025 through 6 August 2025

ER -

Partial Fabric Flattening for Seam Line Region Using Dual-Arm Manipulation

Abstract

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Research Keywords

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