The global chip shortage has worsened, from the upstream wafer shortage to supplier hoarding and the dire international situation; the circumstances look like they will not get better soon as J.P.Morgen suggested. Whether for consumer electronics, or automotive manufacturing, the demand for chips will only increase with some products continuing to be delayed by a deficiency of chips in 2023. The method to quickly increase production capacity has become a severe challenge in the semiconductor industry for wafer manufacturing enterprises, from assembly to testing.
The client is one of the top companies in the domestic semiconductor industry and wants to facilitate wafer distribution in silicon warehouses through AMR (Autonomous Mobile Robot) using manual wafer sorting and calling AMR from PAD to move wafers across the factory once sorted initially.
PROJECT BEGAN
Initially, the project seemed as simple as a factory handling project, but the challenges soon started to surface. The long corridors, multiple floors, cross facilities, and expensive and fragile wafers that require anti-vibration and anti-static made the project much more challenging.
34 Oasis 300UL-SRL mobile robots with rotating lift modules were quickly deployed into facilities, along with Fleet Management System for cross-floor mapping and connecting robots to a docking station, elevators, automatic doors, and cargo showers. However, the 1,200 meters of identical corridors create some positioning difficulty for our robots when passing through.
SOLUTION
To protect the quality of the wafers from vibrations caused by the trolley during the handling process, Standard Robots customized them by equipping vibration damping springs, which were enclosed to provide adequate protection for the valuable wafers.
The elevators, automatic doors, and cargo shower rooms in the handling process were modified. In addition, all external devices were connected through the RIoT Flexible Platform, which robots can communicate, enabling automatic opening and closing and achieving efficient handling across different areas.
The positioning algorithm was updated with a next-generation algorithm that included environment adaptability, enabling Oasis AMRs to accurately position payloads and safely transport the wafers across long corridors.
Industry Standardized automation solution using autonomous mobile robots
This case concerns the typical application of AMR in the semiconductor production process. With a flexible AMR solution, wafers could significantly reduce the number of workers, improve handling efficiency, eliminate the issues related to labor shortages to expand facilities, and achieve automation upgrades, cost reductions, and efficiency increases. Although the chip shortage is ongoing, China's chip industry will eventually witness booming development. Standard Robots has contributed to many leading companies in the semiconductor industry and will always think from the perspective of semiconductor companies to propose innovative solutions to find alternative chips for China.
