For garment factories · In development

Every machine.One clear view.

A small station at each sewing machine records every garment as it arrives and leaves. A small computer in the factory turns those records into one live view of the floor.

See the stationCompany portal

Preparing for our first factory pilot.

Inspired by M31, the Andromeda galaxy

Why not a tablet?

Tracking a sewing line often means a tablet at every machine, and tablets bring problems of their own. There’s a simpler way.

The station · Current prototype

A few buttons, a scanner and a light.

Here is the station we’re building, taken apart step by step, and how it compares with a tablet. It’s a render of our prototype design, so details will change before the pilot.

Skip the station story

Render of our prototype design. Subject to change.

  1. One station per machine.

    It sits beside the sewing machine and records each garment as it arrives and leaves. The current prototype is 3D-printed and measures 66 × 134 × 54 mm.

    In view: Overall size: 66 × 134 × 54 mm (width × length × height)

    Render of the current prototype station, assembled: a compact box with two buttons and a scanner window on top. Lines mark its size, 66 × 134 × 54 mm.

  2. Press, scan, confirmed.

    The operator presses ARRIVE or DONE and holds the garment’s tag over the window. The light turns green only once the Factory Manager, a small computer in the factory, has the scan. Until then, the station keeps it safe.

    BREAK marks a break; REVERT undoes the last scan.

    In view: ARRIVE · DONE · Scanner · Status light · BREAK and REVERT

    Render of the prototype station’s controls: the ARRIVE and DONE buttons, a garment tag held over the scanner window, the status light lit green, and the BREAK and REVERT buttons on the side wall.

  3. Open it up.

    Six 3D-printed parts. The scanner sits 12 mm below a clear 50 mm window, held by a ring that releases it with a 45° twist. The side buttons and the sockets on the back each come out on their own.

    In view: Lid · Window and frame · Scanner · Twist-lock ring · BREAK and REVERT

    Render of the prototype station partly taken apart: the lid, window, scanner and twist-lock ring lifted above the base, with the side buttons and the sockets on the back pulled out.

  4. The electronics.

    At the station’s heart is a small, basic microcontroller with built-in Wi-Fi. For the pilot it sits on a ready-made board. Shown here is our own earlier board design: every part has its own plug, so the lid is designed to come away with just four.

    We’re redesigning our own board for this microcontroller. It hasn’t been made yet.

    In view: Microcontroller · Lid plugs (4) · Power and sensor plugs · Service port

    Render of the prototype station fully taken apart, with our earlier circuit board design and its small service board in focus and the other parts faded.

  5. At the machine.

    The machine plugs into a power box under the table, cabled to the station. A small sensor notices when the machine runs. Together they’re designed to measure how long each machine actually sews, and to switch it off if it runs with no garment scanned, until one is scanned or a supervisor unlocks it.

    This is built and tested in simulation; it hasn’t run on a real machine yet. The layout shown is illustrative.

    In view: Power box · Machine socket · Pedal sensor · Power cable

    Illustrative render of the prototype station on a table, cabled to a power box and a pedal sensor under the table.

  6. The usual way · Illustrative

    A tablet needs looking after.

    Connecting a machine usually means a tablet on an arm. Every tablet needs charging, so a cable often trails across the table, and a flat battery can stop work. A knock can send it off its mount, and a dropped screen can crack.

    Illustrative. Tablet setups vary.

    In view: Low battery · Cracked screen · Arm mount · Charger cable

    Illustration of a typical tablet setup: the tablet has fallen from its arm mount onto the table. Its cracked screen shows a red low-battery warning, and an unplugged charger cable trails across the table.

  7. Our way

    No battery to charge. No screen to crack.

    The station has no battery, so there’s nothing to charge: it stays plugged in. There’s no screen, just physical buttons and a built-in scanner. And it’s fixed beside the machine, screwed down or clamped to the table edge.

    In view: No battery · No screen · Fixed in place

    Render of the prototype station on its own, fixed to the table: no battery and no screen, just physical buttons and a built-in scanner.

Side by side

What sits at each machine.

A typical tablet setup compared with the Andrometa station
Typical tablet setupAndrometa station
How operators use itTap through an app, and scan with the camera or an add-on scannerPress ARRIVE or DONE, then hold the tag over the built-in scanner
PowerA battery to charge, with a charger and cable at every machineNo battery to charge or run flat. It stays plugged in
Fixing in placeAn arm or a standScrew-down feet or a clamp on the table’s edge
The sewing machineUsually not connectedA small sensor notices when the machine runs, and the power box can hold it until a garment is scannedDesigned, but not yet tried on a real machine
UpdatesApp and system updates, often through extra management softwareSoftware updates sent from the company portal

Illustrative comparison. The Andrometa column describes the current prototype design; tablet setups vary.

The station at a glance

  • 66 × 134 × 54 mm

    The size of the current prototype

  • 4 buttons

    ARRIVE, DONE, BREAK and REVERT

  • 50 mm window

    Hold a tag over it to scan

  • No battery

    It stays plugged in

How it works

From each machine to the whole company.

Every station reports to the Factory Manager, a small computer inside the factory. The company portal looks after every factory from one place.

How Andrometa connectsEach dot is one station at a sewing machine. The stations report to the Factory Manager, a small computer in the factory, which connects up to the company portal.
  1. 01

    Station

    At each sewing machine

    Operators press ARRIVE or DONE and scan the garment’s tag. Each scan is saved on the station first and kept until the Factory Manager confirms it, so a Wi-Fi drop doesn’t lose work.

  2. 02

    Factory Manager

    A small computer in each factory

    It gathers what every station records and gives supervisors a live view of the floor.

  3. 03

    Company portal

    Online · in pilot

    Approves new stations, sets who can see what, and sends software updates to a few stations first, pausing if anything goes wrong.

Progress

Where things stand.

Andrometa is still in development. We’re getting ready for our first pilot in a real factory, and making it reliable and secure comes first.

  1. Station casePrototype design, version 25
  2. Station software and Factory ManagerVersion 1.0, the first version that brings every piece together
  3. In designThe station’s circuit boardBeing redesigned for its new ESP32-C6 microcontroller; a ready-made board stands in until then
  4. NowCompany portalRunning as a pilot
  5. NextFirst factory pilotGetting ready

We update this list as each piece moves forward.