“Bot Couture” Robotic Clothing Manufacturing

While at Bluewater Defense, Auralis served as a subject matter expert (SME) in automation and robotic sewing, tackling one of the industry's biggest challenges: automating the handling of pliable materials. This barrier has kept most sewing tasks manual and driven apparel manufacturing overseas, with less than 3% of U.S. clothing produced domestically. Since 2018, Auralis has contributed to several ARM Institute-funded projects aimed at reshoring U.S. apparel manufacturing through automation. Her expertise supported the integration of sewing machines with collaborative robots and the development of end effectors for precise fabric handling. These advancements enabled complex robotic sewing tasks, including hemming, pocket setting, and curved stitching. Notably, Auralis played a key role in the Bot Couture project, which successfully demonstrated robotic denim construction at the Levi Strauss Innovation Center in San Francisco on February 24, 2022—a major step toward revitalizing U.S. apparel manufacturing.