Robot Arm Trajectory Overlap for Narrow Housing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing robot systems for semiconductor manufacturing face challenges in efficiently conveying substrates like wafers within a narrow space without increasing costs, while also ensuring high versatility and reduced housing thickness.
Innovation Solution
The robot system incorporates a unique design with a first base having a tapered shape to support a robot arm, allowing it to rotate without interference. The robot arm's trajectory is optimized to overlap with other arms, reducing width and enabling operation in narrower spaces. Additionally, the hand's movement is coordinated with the third arm and first movable portion to access targets efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the robot arm trajectory is optimized to overlap with other arms, then the width is reduced and the robot can operate in narrower spaces, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the trajectories of multiple robot arms by making them overlap in the vertical plane. This allows the arms to share the same horizontal space, effectively reducing the housing width requirement while maintaining operational capability through coordinated movement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent resolves spatial conflicts by utilizing the vertical dimension for trajectory differentiation. While arm trajectories overlap in the horizontal plane to reduce width, the arms operate at different vertical levels and timing, allowing complex coordinated motion without increasing housing width.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the first base is designed with a tapered shape to support the robot arm, then the robot can rotate without interference, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The first base is designed with an asymmetric tapered shape that is wider at the rear end and narrower at the front end. This asymmetric geometry provides the necessary rotation space for the robot arm while maintaining a compact overall form, balancing rotational versatility with manufacturing feasibility.
3Length of stationary object
If the robot operates in a narrow space with optimized trajectory, then the housing thickness is reduced, but the reliability of substrate conveyance decreases due to potential interference
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic coordination between the hand and the third arm through controlled movement sequences. The hand moves in conjunction with the third arm to access targets, ensuring that substrate conveyance paths are maintained even in the narrowed space, thus preserving reliability while reducing housing thickness.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a system including: a housing having a front wall including a plurality of openings for access to a cassette storing a wafer and a back wall facing the front wall; and a robot arranged in the housing, in which the robot has a first base, a first movable portion, a second movable portion having a hand holding the wafer, and a control unit which controls the first movable portion and the second movable portion, and the plurality of openings are positioned in a maximum accessible region of the hand determined based on a position where the robot is arranged in the housing, a length of the first movable portion in a state where the first movable portion is maximally extended, and a length of the second movable portion in a state where the second movable portion is maximally extended.