HANGZHOU -- Traditional ways of sewing that rely on human hands or sewing machines may see a drastic change, as researchers in eastern China's Zhejiang province have created a 3D sewing robotic arm.

The robotic arm, about the size of a human, can quickly scan pieces of cloth with a laser scanner, sew them together based on programmed patterns and cut threads. The whole process only takes a few minutes.

Jointly developed by Ningbo Cixing Co Ltd and a research institute of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, the 3D robotic arms are currently applied to the sewing of automotive interiors.

According to Fu Lei, general manager of Cixing Robotics, automobile manufacturing is a highly automatic industry, but this is not the case in making automotive interiors, which relies on many human workers. The 3D robotic arm could increase production efficiency without lowering the quality of products.

The 3D sewing robotic arms, installed with different heads, will be used in many more fields including aerospace.