AN INTELLIGENT PROGRAMMING INTERFACE HAS BEEN DEVELOPED TO RECONFIGURE A FLEXIBLE ROBOTIC SYSTEM WHICH MANIPULATES FLEXIBLE MATERIALS FOR APPAREL MANUFACTURING APPLICATIONS. A DIRECT MANIPULATION INTERFACE ALLOWS THE USER TO GENERATE ROBOT CONTROL PROGRAMS GRAPHICALLY BY POINTING AND CLICKING WITH A MOUSE. WITH THE GRAPHICAL INTERFACE, THE USER NEEDS NO COMPUTER LANGUAGE EXPERIENCE TO PROGRAM THE SYSTEM. IN ADDITION, AN EXPERT SYSTEM BUILT INTO THE INTERFACE ELIMINATES THE NEED FOR THE USER TO UNDERSTAND THE LOW LEVEL SPECIFICS OF THE ROBOTIC CLOTH HANDLING TASK. THE EXPERT SYSTEM USES RULE-BASED AND ALGORITHMIC TECHNIQUES TO AUTOMATICALLY GENERATE ROBOT PROGRAMS BASED ON A HIGH LEVEL DESCRIPTION OF THE TASK SUPPLIED BY THE USER.