Status estimation of cloth handling robot using force sensor

To automate linen supply factories, a cloth handling robot system has been developed. This system can pick up a small towel from the piled towels and place it to following process. But a large towel such as bath towels, sheets, etc, may be tangled with other clothes in this system. In order to solve the problem, it is necessary evaluate the status of cloth handling when it picks up clothes. In addition, it is necessary to develop an evaluation system without changing the existing system. In this paper, the status estimation method of handling robot using a force sensor has been introduced. Experimental result shows that our system can be used in the application of checking foreign objects mixed at lines and prevent the damages of pulling up clothes.