Robot and hand pose adjustment method

Abstract

A robot includes a guide portion, a moving portion, a hand portion, a deformation acquisition portion, a posture adjustment portion, and a control portion. The moving portion is provided to the guide portion and is movable in a direction guided by the guide portion. The hand portion is provided to the moving portion and holds a substrate. The deformation acquisition portion acquires information related to deformation of the guide portion. The posture adjustment portion is capable of adjusting a posture of the hand portion according to the deformation of the guide portion acquired by the deformation acquisition portion. The control portion controls an action of the posture adjustment portion. The control portion adjusts the posture of the hand portion that performs a holding operation on the substrate to be transported, with the posture adjustment portion, according to the information related to the deformation of the guide portion.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to a robot and a hand posture adjustment method. BACKGROUND

[0002] Hitherto, a substrate conveying robot that takes out a substrate from a substrate storage device, a substrate processing device, or the like, and conveys the substrate has been known. Patent Literature 1 discloses a conveying robot as such a robot.

[0003] The conveying robot of Patent Literature 1 includes a trunk portion and an arm body. The arm body is provided at an upper portion of the trunk portion. The conveying robot conveys a substrate (workpiece) between a cassette (storage device) and various processing devices by causing the arm body to perform a telescopic action. An end effector that holds the substrate is provided at an end portion of the arm body.

[0004] Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-120861 SUMMARY

[0005] In the above-described Patent Literature 1, a case where the trunk portion is deformed for some reason such as heat can be conceived. For example, it can be conceived that an upper surface of the trunk portion is not horizontal, or is inclined, or is warped in a manner of a curved surface that is convex upward.

[0006] When the trunk portion is deformed as described above, a posture of a hand portion becomes not a horizontal posture. Since a substrate to be conveyed is stored in a cassette in a horizontal posture, when the posture of the hand portion is inappropriate with respect to the substrate, it is feared that the hand portion cannot hold the substrate to be conveyed, or damages the substrate in the course of the holding action.

[0007] In view of the above, an object of the present application is to flexibly adjust a posture of a hand portion of a robot in accordance with a posture of a substrate to be conveyed, before a holding operation of the substrate is performed using the robot.

[0008] The problem to be solved by the present application is as described above, and next, means for solving the problem and effects thereof will be described.

[0009] According to a first aspect of the present application, there is provided a robot of the following structure. That is, the robot is for carrying a substrate. The robot includes a guide portion, a moving portion, a hand portion, a deformation acquisition portion, a posture adjustment portion, and a control portion. The moving portion is provided to the guide portion and is movable in a direction guided by the guide portion. The hand portion is provided to the moving portion and holds the substrate. The deformation acquisition portion acquires information about a deformation of the guide portion. The posture adjustment portion is capable of adjusting a posture of the hand portion in accordance with the deformation of the guide portion acquired by the deformation acquisition portion. The control portion controls an action of the posture adjustment portion. The control portion adjusts the posture of the hand portion that performs a holding work with respect to the substrate to be carried, with the posture adjustment portion, in accordance with the information about the deformation of the guide portion.

[0010] According to a second aspect of the present application, there is provided a hand posture adjustment method of the following structure. That is, the hand posture adjustment method is for adjusting a posture of a hand portion of a robot. The robot includes a guide portion, a moving portion, a hand portion, a deformation acquisition portion, and a posture adjustment portion. The moving portion is provided to the guide portion and is movable in a direction guided by the guide portion. The hand portion is provided to the moving portion and holds a substrate. The deformation acquisition portion acquires information about a deformation of the guide portion. The posture adjustment portion is capable of adjusting a posture of the hand portion in accordance with the deformation of the guide portion. The hand posture adjustment method adjusts the posture of the hand portion that performs a holding work with respect to the substrate to be carried, with the posture adjustment portion, in accordance with the information about the deformation of the guide portion.

[0011] When the guide portion is deformed for some reason, sometimes the posture of the hand portion changes with the movement of the moving portion guided by the guide portion. As a result, with respect to the holding work of the substrate to be carried, sometimes the posture of the hand portion becomes inappropriate. However, according to the present application, even when the hand portion cannot obtain an appropriate posture due to the deformation of the guide portion, the holding work can be performed in a state where the posture of the hand portion is matched to the substrate to be carried. Therefore, it is possible to prevent damage to the substrate to be carried and the like, and to smoothly perform the holding work of the substrate.

[0012] (EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION)

[0013] According to the present application, it is possible to flexibly adjust the posture of the hand portion of the robot in accordance with the posture of the substrate to be carried, before the holding work of the substrate to be carried is performed by the robot. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0014] Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the overall structure of a robot according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0015] Figure 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a tilt mechanism included in the robot.

[0016] Figure 3 This is a cross-sectional view of the tilting mechanism.

[0017] Figure 4 This diagram illustrates the operation of a robot using sensors to detect deformation of the guide section.

[0018] Figure 5 This diagram shows what it looks like when the substrate is being held.

[0019] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the deformation of the lifting guide section.

[0020] Figure 7 This diagram illustrates the operation of a vertical clamping device by detecting the linear components of the clamp using a detection sensor mounted on the blade.

[0021] Figure 8 This diagram illustrates the operation of changing the direction of the blade's forward movement, with the detection sensor re-detecting the straight section of the vertical clamp. Detailed Implementation

[0022] Next, the disclosed embodiments will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 This is a perspective view showing the overall structure of robot 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 1 The robot 1 shown is, for example, installed in a manufacturing plant, warehouse, or the like of substrate W. Substrate W can be, for example, a semiconductor wafer, a printed circuit board, or the like.

[0024] Robot 1 is used in a substrate processing apparatus (not shown) and Figure 5 The substrate W is transported between the substrate storage devices 5 shown. However, the robot 1 can also be used, for example, to transport the substrate W between multiple substrate processing devices that process the substrate W.

[0025] The substrate W can be any one of the following: raw material for the substrate, semi-finished product in processing, or finished product after processing. In this embodiment, the substrate W is in the shape of a circular plate, but it is not limited to this.

[0026] Robot 1 includes a lifting guide (guide) 11, a moving part 12, a blade (hand) 13, a tilting mechanism (posture adjustment part) 14, and a robot control part (control part) 15.

[0027] The lifting guide 11 is composed of a slender component in the vertical direction. For example... Figure 5As shown, the lifting guide 11 is configured to extend upward from the horizontal mounting surface 18. A first guide groove 20, which is a straight line extending parallel to the length direction of the lifting guide 11, is provided in the lifting guide 11. The length direction of the first guide groove 20 is consistent with the vertical direction.

[0028] The movable part 12 is configured to protrude from the lifting guide 11. The direction in which the movable part 12 protrudes from the lifting guide 11 intersects the length direction of the lifting guide 11. The movable part 12 is driven by a drive device (not shown). By this drive, the movable part 12 can move vertically relative to the lifting guide 11 along the first guide groove 20.

[0029] For ease of explanation, the direction in which the moving part 12 protrudes from the lifting guide part 11 is defined as the forward direction, and the direction that is perpendicular to both the up-down direction and the protrusion direction is defined as the left-right direction.

[0030] The moving part 12 includes a mounting part 21, a support part 22, and a holding part 23.

[0031] The mounting part 21 is configured to protrude forward from the lifting guide part 11. The mounting part 21 can move vertically along the first guide groove 20 via the drive device.

[0032] The support portion 22 is supported by the mounting portion 21 via the tilting mechanism 14. The support portion 22 is positioned above the mounting portion 21. A rotating shaft 27 is provided between the support portion 22 and the mounting portion 21. Figure 2 As shown, the rotating shaft 27 forms part of the tilting mechanism 14 and is configured to extend in the vertical direction. The support 22 is driven by a suitable actuator (not shown). By this drive, the support 22 rotates about the rotating shaft 27. This actuator can be, for example, an electric motor.

[0033] A retaining part 23 is mounted on the supporting part 22. The retaining part 23 is disposed on the upper side of the supporting part 22. The retaining part 23 is driven by a suitable actuator (not shown). By this drive, the retaining part 23 moves relative to the supporting part 22 along the second guide groove 29. The actuator can be, for example, an electric motor.

[0034] A blade 13 is disposed in the holding portion 23 included in the moving portion 12. The blade 13 is used to hold the substrate W and includes at least one. In this embodiment, the blade 13 includes three blades 13A, 13B, and 13C.

[0035] Each of the three blades 13A, 13B, and 13C is configured to protrude forward from the retaining part 23. The three blades 13A, 13B, and 13C are arranged at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction.

[0036] Blades 13A, 13B, and 13C are movable integrally with the moving part 12 (mounting part 21) in the direction along the first guide groove 20. Furthermore, blades 13A, 13B, and 13C are movable integrally with the holding part 23 relative to the support part 22 in the direction along the second guide groove 29. Moreover, the posture of blades 13A, 13B, and 13C can be changed by the tilting mechanism 14.

[0037] Next, the structure of blades 13A, 13B, and 13C will be explained in detail. Since the structures of the three blades 13A, 13B, and 13C are roughly the same, the following mainly describes blade 13A.

[0038] The blade 13A is composed of a plate-shaped member that is U-shaped when viewed from a planar perspective. With the second guide groove 29 facing in the front-rear direction, the blade 13A is configured with the open side of the U facing forward and the closed side of the U facing backward (towards the holding part 23). The blade 13A has a body part 30, a first finger part 31, and a second finger part 32.

[0039] The base end of the body 30 is connected to the retaining part 23. Therefore, the blade 13A is cantilevered by the retaining part 23.

[0040] The following description uses the second guide groove 29 in the front-back direction. The first finger portion 31 and the second finger portion 32 are configured to be symmetrical to each other. The first finger portion 31 is configured to protrude forward from the right side of the body portion 30. The second finger portion 32 is configured to protrude forward from the left side of the body portion 30. An appropriate gap is formed between the first finger portion 31 and the second finger portion 32. The straight member 71 included in the vertical clamp 70 (described later) can be inserted between the first finger portion 31 and the second finger portion 32.

[0041] A tilting mechanism 14 is provided on the front end (front side) of the mounting portion 21. The tilting mechanism 14 can adjust the posture of the blade 13 relative to the mounting portion 21. The adjustment of this posture will be described later.

[0042] like Figure 2 As shown, the tilting mechanism 14 includes a lower plate portion 41 and an upper plate portion 42. The lower plate portion 41 is fixed to the mounting portion 21. The support portion 22 is rotatably supported by the upper plate portion 42 via a rotating shaft 27. A height adjustment mechanism 45 is disposed between the lower plate portion 41 and the upper plate portion 42. The tilting mechanism 14 uses the height adjustment mechanism 45 to adjust the tilt angle and tilt direction of the upper plate portion 42 relative to the lower plate portion 41.

[0043] like Figure 3 As shown, the height adjustment mechanism 45 includes, for example, three support portions 51, 52, and 53, which are disposed at different positions between the lower plate portion 41 and the upper plate portion 42. For ease of explanation, in...Figure 3 The middle support portions 51, 52, 53 are depicted as being arranged in a straight line, but in fact, as shown in FIG. 2, the support portions 51, 52, 53 are configured to form a triangle as viewed in plan. Figure 2

[0044] Two of the three support portions 51, 52 include an external thread 56, an internal thread 57, and a spherical bearing 58. A threaded shaft of the external thread 56 is rotatably supported by the lower plate portion 41 with an axis oriented in the up-down direction. The threaded shaft is capable of independent rotation of the two support portions 51, 52 by means of an actuator (e.g., an electric motor) that is not shown. The internal thread 57 is threaded onto the threaded shaft of the external thread 56. When the threaded shaft is rotated, the internal thread 57 is moved in the up-down direction. By this thread feed, the height at which the support portions 51, 52 support the upper plate portion 42 can be changed. The spherical bearing 58 is disposed between the internal thread 57 and the upper plate portion 42.

[0045] A spherical bearing 58 is provided in the remaining support portion 53. This support portion 53 does not have a support height change function by thread feed.

[0046] By driving the actuator, the height of the upper plate portion 42 relative to the lower plate portion 41 is independently changed in the plurality of support portions 51, 52, and the inclination angle and inclination direction of the upper plate portion 42 relative to the lower plate portion 41 can be changed. As a result, the posture (inclination angle and inclination direction) of the support portion 22, and further the blade 13, relative to the mounting portion 21 can be adjusted. Note that the height adjustment mechanism 5 (inclination mechanism 14) is not limited to this structure.

[0047] As shown in FIG. 3, a detection sensor 60 is provided on the front end side of the blade 13A. The detection sensor 60 is disposed at the front end portion of each of the first finger portion 31 and the second finger portion 32. The detection sensor 60 is configured as an object detection sensor that non-contact detects an object. By this detection sensor 60, the vertical jig 70 (straight member 71) described later can be detected. Note that the detection sensor 60 need only be provided in at least one of the blade 13A, the blade 13B, and the blade 13C. Figure 1 In the present embodiment, the detection sensor 60 is configured from a photoelectric sensor having an emission portion 61 and a reception portion 62. Note that the structure of the detection sensor 60 is not limited thereto.

[0048] The emission portion 61 is provided on the front end side of the first finger portion 31. The reception portion 62 is provided on the front end side of the second finger portion 32, disposed so as to face the emission portion 61. The emission portion 61 irradiates detection light toward the reception portion 62. As the detection light, for example, infrared light can be used, but is not limited thereto.

[0049]

[0050] ​​The light-receiving unit 62 is connected to the robot control unit 15 wirelessly or via a wired connection. The light-receiving unit 62 outputs an electrical signal indicating the presence or absence of detected light to the robot control unit 15. For example... Figure 4 As shown in condition S1, when there is an object (e.g., the straight member 71 of the vertical clamp 70) between the light-emitting section 61 and the light-receiving section 62, the detection light from the light-emitting section 61 is blocked by the object, therefore the light-receiving section 62 outputs an electrical signal that is not receiving light. On the other hand, as... Figure 4 As shown in state S2, when there is no object between the light-emitting part 61 and the light-receiving part 62, the light-receiving part 62 outputs an electrical signal indicating that it has received light because the detection light from the light-emitting part 61 reaches the light-receiving part 62.

[0051] As long as the light-receiving part 62 can detect the detection light irradiated from the light-projecting part 61, the positions of the light-projecting part 61 and the light-receiving part 62 in the blade 13A can be arbitrary. For example, the light-projecting part 61 can be hidden inside the first finger part 31, and the light-receiving part 62 can be hidden inside the second finger part 32.

[0052] like Figure 1 As shown, the robot control unit 15 and the lifting guide unit 11 are respectively provided. It should be noted that the robot control unit 15 can also be arranged inside the lifting guide unit 11. The robot control unit 15 includes a deformation acquisition unit 66.

[0053] Specifically, the robot control unit 15 is configured as a known computer. The robot control unit 15 includes a processing unit such as a microcontroller, CPU, MPU, PLC, DSP, ASIC, or FPGA; a storage unit such as ROM, RAM, or HDD; and a communication unit capable of communicating with external devices. The storage unit stores the programs executed by the processing unit, various setting data, etc. The communication unit is configured to send the detection results of various sensors (e.g., detection sensor 60) to external devices and to receive information about the board W from external devices. Through the cooperation of this hardware and software, the robot control unit 15 can function as a deformation acquisition unit 66.

[0054] The deformation acquisition unit 66 acquires information related to the deformation of the lifting guide unit 11 based on the detection results of the detection sensor 60 installed on the blade 13. This will be explained later.

[0055] The robot control unit 15 controls the vertical movement of the mounting part 21, the rotation of the support part 22, and the movement of the holding part 23 along the second guide groove 29. Therefore, the position and orientation of the blade 13A as viewed from the plane can be changed. Furthermore, the robot control unit 15 controls the operation of the tilting mechanism 14. This allows the orientation of the blade 13A to be changed. Here, orientation refers to how the surface of the blade 13A is tilted relative to the upper surface of the mounting part 21.

[0056] Next, the adjustment method (hand posture adjustment method) of acquiring information related to the deformation of the elevation guide portion 11 in the robot 1 of the present embodiment and adjusting the posture of the blade 13A (13) according to the deformation of the elevation guide portion 11 will be described with reference to Figures 5 to 7 etc. Note that, hereinafter, an example of the work of taking out the substrate W from the substrate storage device 5 (holding work) will be described. Also, in order to make the structure of each part easier to understand, the structure of a part will sometimes be omitted in the drawings.

[0057] Figure 5 The substrate storage device 5 shown is used to store substrates W. The substrate storage device 5 is disposed at an appropriate distance from the robot 1 so that the robot 1 can perform the work of taking out the substrates W.

[0058] The substrate storage device 5 can be used to store a plurality of substrates W in a state in which they are arranged at equal intervals in the vertical direction (height direction of the substrate storage device 5). In the substrate storage device 5, the substrates W are normally held in a horizontal posture.

[0059] Normally, the elevation guide portion 11 is formed in an elongated vertical straight line shape with respect to the placement surface 18. However, as shown in Figure 6 , deformation (warping and / or skewing, etc.) of the elevation guide portion 11 can sometimes occur for some reason. Note that, in Figure 6 , the deformation of the elevation guide portion 11 is exaggeratedly depicted in order to represent the deformation in an easily understandable manner.

[0060] At this time, assuming that the posture is not adjusted by the tilting mechanism 14, the posture of the blade 13A with respect to the horizontal plane (in other words, the placement surface 18) changes according to the vertical position of the blade 13A. As a result, the robot 1 can take out a substrate W of a certain height from the substrate storage device 5, but when a substrate W of a height different from the certain height is taken out, failure can sometimes occur due to the inappropriate posture of the blade 13A with respect to the substrate W.

[0061] Although the deformation is simplified in Figure 6 , the actual deformation of the elevation guide portion 11 is sometimes complex in three dimensions. Therefore, the posture (tilting direction and tilting angle) of the blade 13A changes complexly according to the movement of the blade 13A in the vertical direction.

[0062] Thus, in the robot 1 of the present embodiment, the robot control section 15 is able to adjust the posture of the blade 13A that performs the extraction work with respect to the conveyed substrate W using the tilting mechanism 14. The adjustment of the posture of the blade 13A is performed in accordance with the deformation of the lift guide section 11 and the position of the blade 13A in the direction guided by the lift guide section 11 (in other words, the height of the mounting section 21).

[0063] Specifically, in the present embodiment, in order to detect the influence on the posture of the blade 13A due to the deformation of the lift guide section 11, a vertical jig 70 is used. As shown in Figure 7 , the vertical jig 70 includes an elongated linear member 71 and a hammer 72 having an appropriate weight. As the linear member 71, for example, a metal wire can be used.

[0064] The hammer 72 is connected to one end portion in the length direction of the linear member 71. Also, the other end portion in the length direction of the linear member 71 is fixed to the ceiling or the like of the building where the robot 1 is installed. When the hammer 72 is at rest in a state of being suspended by the linear member 71, the linear member 71 becomes in a state of extending in the vertical direction in the vicinity of the lift guide section 11.

[0065] The robot control section 15, as a preparatory work, previously adjusts the orientation of the support section 22 with respect to the mounting section 21 so that the orientation of the second guide groove 29 is along the front-rear direction (strictly speaking, the direction perpendicular to the front face of the lift guide section 11). Also, it is set to a state where tilting by the tilting mechanism 14 is not performed.

[0066] Next, the robot control section 15 controls the movement of the moving section 12 (mounting section 21) to hold the blade 13A at a prescribed up-down position. At this prescribed up-down position, the robot control section 15 controls the movement of the moving section 12 (holding section 23) to advance the blade 13A in a manner along the orientation of the second guide groove 29 and close to the linear member 71. This advancement of the blade 13A can be achieved by the robot control section 15 outputting a command that causes the holding section 23 to change little by little in position with respect to the support section 22 in the position control system.

[0067] At the initial stage of the advancement, since the blade 13A is away from the linear member 71, as shown in the state S1 of Figure 4 , the detection sensor 60 does not detect the linear member 71. Shortly after the advancement of the blade 13A, as shown in the state S2 of Figure 4When the linear member 71 is detected by the detection sensor 60, the light-receiving portion 62 outputs an electric signal with no light reception to the robot control portion 15. When the linear member 71 is detected by the detection sensor 60, the robot control portion 15 causes the blade 13A to retreat while storing the position of the blade 13A at that time (the position in the position control system).

[0068] The robot control portion 15 repeatedly performs the above-described processing while causing the position of the moving portion 12 (strictly speaking, the mounting portion 21) to be various different positions. The robot control portion 15 causes the height of the mounting portion 21 to be different, for example, by several tens of centimeters each time in the movable stroke range in the vertical direction, and at each height, acquires the position of the blade 13A in the position control system at the time when the linear member 71 is detected by the detection sensor 60. Figure 7 This processing is schematically shown.

[0069] The linear member 71 and the lift guide portion 11 are respectively provided and maintained absolutely vertically. Therefore, when the position of the blade 13A in the position control system at the time when the linear member 71 is detected by the detection sensor 60 changes at each height of the mounting portion 21, the change indicates the deformation of the lift guide portion 11.

[0070] Next, the robot control portion 15 rotates the support portion 22 by a suitable angle with the rotation shaft 27 as the center, and tilts the orientation of the second guide groove 29 from the front-rear direction in plan view. Therefore, the blade 13A advances / recedes together with the holding portion 23 in an orientation different from the front-rear direction. The robot control portion 15, in this state, repeatedly performs the following processing, that is, the processing of acquiring the position of the blade 13A in the position control system at the time when the linear member 71 is detected by the detection sensor 60, while causing the position in the vertical direction of the mounting portion 21 to be various different positions. Figure 8 This processing is schematically shown.

[0071] The robot control portion 15 creates a three-dimensional profile representing the shape of the lift guide portion 11 to which the deformation is added, on the basis of the data obtained in the processing described above. Figure 7 and Figure 8 The robot control portion 15 creates a three-dimensional profile representing the shape of the lift guide portion 11 to which the deformation is added, on the basis of the data obtained in the processing described above.

[0072] By differentiating the above three-dimensional curve, a relationship between the height of the mounting portion 21 and the inclination generated on the upper surface of the mounting portion 21 with respect to the movement of the mounting portion 21 in the vertical direction guided by the lift guide portion 11 can be obtained. The robot control portion 15 causes the inclination mechanism 14 to operate so as to cancel the inclination. As a result, the posture of the blade 13A can be made to coincide with the posture of the substrate W stored in the substrate storage device 5.

[0073] Then, the robot control portion 15 performs control so that the blade 13A is inserted under the conveyance- scheduled substrate W, and the conveyance-scheduled substrate W is taken out from the substrate storage device 5. At this time, even if the lift guide portion 11 is deformed, the posture of the blade 13A is adjusted to be horizontal by the inclination mechanism 14 so as to coincide with the posture of the substrate W. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the situation in which the substrate W cannot be smoothly conveyed due to the unexpected contact of the blade 13A with the substrate W.

[0074] As described above, the robot 1 of the present embodiment is used for conveying the substrate W. The robot 1 includes the lift guide portion 11, the moving portion 12, the blade 13, the deformation acquisition portion 66, the inclination mechanism 14, and the robot control portion 15. The moving portion 12 is provided to the lift guide portion 11 and is movable in the direction guided by the lift guide portion 11. The blade 13 is provided to the moving portion 12 and holds the substrate W. The deformation acquisition portion 66 acquires information related to the deformation of the lift guide portion 11. The inclination mechanism 14 is capable of adjusting the posture of the blade 13 in accordance with the deformation of the lift guide portion 11 acquired by the deformation acquisition portion 66. The robot control portion 15 controls the operation of the inclination mechanism 14. The robot control portion 15 adjusts the posture of the blade 13 that performs the holding work with respect to the conveyance-scheduled substrate W with the inclination mechanism 14 in accordance with the information related to the deformation of the lift guide portion 11.

[0075] When the lift guide portion 11 is deformed for some reason, sometimes the posture of the blade 13 changes with the movement of the moving portion 12 guided by the lift guide portion 11. As a result, sometimes the posture of the blade 13 is inappropriate with respect to the taking-out work of the conveyance-scheduled substrate W. However, according to the structure of the present embodiment, even if the lift guide portion 11 is deformed, the posture of the blade 13A is adjusted by the inclination mechanism 14 accordingly, and thus it is possible to perform the taking-out work in a state in which the posture of the blade 13 is adapted to the conveyance-scheduled substrate W. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the damage of the conveyance-scheduled substrate W and the like, and to smoothly perform the taking-out work of the substrate W.

[0076] Further, in the robot 1 of the present embodiment, the inclination mechanism 14 is capable of inclining the posture of the blade 13.

[0077] Therefore, it is possible to easily adjust the posture of the blade 13 with a simple structure.

[0078] Further, in the robot 1 of the present embodiment, the deformation acquisition unit 66 acquires information related to the deformation of the elevation guide 11 based on the detection result of the detection sensor 60 provided to the blade 13. The blade 13 is a member that is movable along the guide direction of the elevation guide 11.

[0079] By thus providing the detection sensor 60 to the blade 13, the deformation of the elevation guide 11 can be appropriately acquired.

[0080] Further, in the robot 1 of the present embodiment, the sensor for acquiring information related to the deformation of the elevation guide 11 is the detection sensor 60 provided to the blade 13 that detects the vertical jig 70. The deformation acquisition unit 66 acquires information related to the deformation of the elevation guide 11 based on the position of the blade 13 at the time of detecting the vertical jig 70 in the position control system at a plurality of positions of the moving section 12 in the guide direction of the elevation guide 11.

[0081] Therefore, information related to the deformation of the elevation guide 11 can be acquired with a simple structure.

[0082] The above-described structure can be changed, for example, as follows.

[0083] When a plurality of blades 13 are included, the detection sensor 60 can be provided to any blade 13.

[0084] The detection of the vertical jig 70 by the detection sensor 60 can be performed only for the purpose of grasping how the elevation guide 11 is deformed. Information on the deformation of the elevation guide 11 can be output, for example, by displaying the three-dimensional curve on an appropriate display screen. Such a structure for diagnosing the deformation of the elevation guide 11 can also be applied to a robot 1 that does not have the tilting mechanism 14.

[0085] The sensor for acquiring information related to the deformation of the elevation guide 11 can also be a tilt sensor that measures the gravitational acceleration and detects the tilt angle of the elevation guide 11 with respect to the horizontal plane (the placement surface 18). The tilt sensor is fixed to an appropriate position of the blade 13A. At this time, the deformation acquisition unit 66 acquires information related to the deformation of the elevation guide 11 based on the detection result of the tilt sensor. In this structure, the deformation of the elevation guide 11 can be acquired without the vertical jig 70. The tilt sensor can be, for example, a structure using MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System).

[0086] Note that the structure of the tilt sensor is not particularly limited, and as the tilt sensor, an acceleration sensor for measuring the gravitational acceleration can be used. At this time, the tilt angle of the elevation guide 11 with respect to the horizontal plane is calculated based on the gravitational acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor.

[0087] The detection sensor 60 provided in the blade 13 detects not only the vertical jig 70 but also can be used as a sensor for detecting the substrate W being transported.

[0088] The detection sensor 60 is not limited to being provided in the blade 13 but can be provided in the mounting portion 21, the support portion 22, or the holding portion 23. The same applies to the inclination sensor.

[0089] The robot 1 can hold the substrate W using a tray in which the substrate W is housed, instead of directly holding the substrate W.

[0090] The body portion 30 of the blade 13 can be formed integrally with the holding portion 23 of the moving portion 12.

[0091] As the deformation generated in the lift guide portion 11, it can be configured to handle only the deformation in a plane perpendicular to the left-right direction. At this time, the operation of the inclination sensor 61 can be omitted, and the deformation of the lift guide portion 11 can be grasped only by the operation of the detection sensor 60. Figure 8 Figure 7 As the deformation generated in the lift guide portion 11, it can be configured to handle only the deformation in a plane perpendicular to the left-right direction. At this time, the operation of the inclination sensor 61 can be omitted, and the deformation of the lift guide portion 11 can be grasped only by the operation of the detection sensor 60.

[0092] The inclination mechanism 14 is not limited to the structure disposed between the mounting portion 21 and the support portion 22, but can be disposed between the support portion 22 and the holding portion 23, for example.

[0093] In order to remove the influence of the deformation of the lift guide portion 11, not only the posture of the blade 13A is corrected by the inclination mechanism 14, but preferably the position of the blade 13A is also corrected.

[0094] The functions of the elements disclosed in the present specification can be performed using a circuit or a processing circuit that includes a general-purpose processor, a dedicated processor, an integrated circuit, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a conventional circuit, and / or a combination thereof that is configured or programmed to perform the disclosed functions. The processor is considered a processing circuit or a circuit because it includes transistors and other circuits. In the present invention, the circuit, unit, or component is hardware that performs the listed functions or hardware that is programmed to perform the listed functions. The hardware can be the hardware disclosed in the present specification or other known hardware that is programmed or configured to perform the listed functions. When the hardware is a processor that is considered one of the circuits, the circuit, component, or unit is a combination of hardware and software that is used in the structure of the hardware and / or the processor.

[0095] If the above teachings are taken into account, it is obvious that the present invention can have many modification and deformation modes. Therefore, it should be understood that the present invention can be implemented using methods other than those described in the present specification within the scope of the appended claims.​

Claims

1. A robot for transporting substrates, characterized in that... : The robot includes a guiding unit, a moving unit, a hand, a deformation acquisition unit, a posture adjustment unit, and a control unit. The moving unit is disposed on the guiding unit and can move in the direction guided by the guiding unit. The hand is disposed on the moving unit and holds the substrate. The deformation acquisition unit acquires information related to the deformation of the guiding unit. The posture adjustment unit can adjust the posture of the hand according to the deformation of the guiding unit acquired by the deformation acquisition unit. The control unit controls the movement of the posture adjustment unit. The control unit adjusts the posture of the hand performing the holding operation relative to the predetermined substrate by the posture adjustment unit based on information related to the deformation of the guide unit. The deformation acquisition unit acquires information related to the deformation of the guide part based on the detection results of the sensor, which is installed in a component movable along the guiding direction of the guide part. The sensor is a detection sensor, which is installed on the hand and used to detect the vertical clamp. The deformation acquisition unit obtains information related to the deformation of the guide unit at multiple positions of the moving part in the guiding direction of the guide unit, based on the position of the hand in the position control system when the hand detects the vertical clamp.

2. The robot according to claim 1, characterized in that... : The posture adjustment unit is composed of a tilting mechanism that allows the hand to tilt.

3. A hand posture adjustment method, related to a robot, comprising a guide unit, a moving unit, a hand, a deformation acquisition unit, and a posture adjustment unit. The moving unit is disposed on the guide unit and is capable of moving in a direction guided by the guide unit. The hand is disposed on the moving unit and holds a substrate. The deformation acquisition unit acquires information related to the deformation of the guide unit. The posture adjustment unit is capable of adjusting the hand posture according to the deformation of the guide unit. : Based on information related to the deformation of the guide portion, the posture of the hand performing the holding operation relative to the predetermined substrate is adjusted by the posture adjustment unit. The deformation acquisition unit acquires information related to the deformation of the guide part based on the detection results of the sensor, which is installed in a component movable along the guiding direction of the guide part. The sensor is a detection sensor, which is installed on the hand and used to detect the vertical clamp. The deformation acquisition unit obtains information related to the deformation of the guide unit at multiple positions of the moving part in the guiding direction of the guide unit, based on the position of the hand in the position control system when the hand detects the vertical clamp.

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