An optimal periodic scheduler for dual-arm robots in cluster tools with residency constraints

Rostami, Salim; Hamidzadeh, Babak; Camporese, D.

doi:10.1109/70.964662

Cited by 151 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…23 Hence, we use a Petri net model for flow pattern (1). The purpose is to obtain feasible operating sequences of the TM.…”

Section: Petri Net Modeling and Deadlock Prevention Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many related articles about the scheduling of cluster tools consider the residency time constraints of wafers. 1,[5][6][7][8]21 To the best of our knowledge, no attempts have been made for bi-objective minimization of residency time and makespan in the noncyclic scheduling of dual-armed cluster tools. Practitioners always choose the appropriate schedule by considering the tradeoff between makespan and residency time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Generally, most studies on scheduling cluster tools focus on finding the optimal cyclic schedules [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] when the cluster tools are operated in a steady state. A dualarmed cluster tool is often operated at a constant cycle by employing swap strategies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Noncyclic scheduling of dual-armed cluster tools for minimization of wafer residency time and makespan

Sakai

Nishi

2017

Advances in Mechanical Engineering

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cluster tools are used for semiconductor wafer fabrication. A cluster tool consists of several loadlock modules, processing modules, and material handling armed robots to transfer wafers between loadlocks and processing modules. Most conventional scheduling methods consider a cyclic schedule to minimize makespan. We consider noncyclic scheduling of dual-armed cluster tools. In practice, it is important to minimize wafer residency time in processing modules to maintain the surface quality of wafers. In the noncyclic operations, the cluster tool causes deadlock which may lead to excessive loss in the wafer fabrication process. We propose an efficient deadlock-free scheduling method for the noncyclic scheduling problem of a dual-armed cluster tool to minimize the residency time and makespan. The proposed method is applied to a dual-armed cluster tool with a non-revisiting process and a revisiting process. Computational results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

show abstract

“…23 Hence, we use a Petri net model for flow pattern (1). The purpose is to obtain feasible operating sequences of the TM.…”

Section: Petri Net Modeling and Deadlock Prevention Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Noncyclic scheduling of dual-armed cluster tools for minimization of wafer residency time and makespan

Sakai

Nishi

2017

Advances in Mechanical Engineering

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The issues are critical for wafer fabricators as well as tool vendors. Rostami et al [4] examine heuristic algorithms for finding a tool operation sequence for a dual-armed cluster tool with the wafer delay constraints. However, many of the important scheduling issues including the existence of a feasible schedule and process time selection are yet to be investigated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scheduling analysis of time-constrained dual-armed cluster tools

Kim

Lee

et al. 2003

IEEE Trans. Semicond. Manufact.

246

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract-Cluster tools, each of which consists of several singlewafer processing chambers and a wafer handling robot, have been increasingly used for diverse wafer fabrication processes. Processes such as some low pressure chemical vapor deposition processes require strict timing control. Unless a wafer processed at a chamber for such a process leaves the chamber within a specified time limit, the wafer is subject to quality problems due to residual gases and heat. We address the scheduling problem for such time-constrained dual-armed cluster tools that have diverse wafer flow patterns. We propose a systematic method of determining the schedulable process time range for which there exists a feasible schedule that satisfies the time constraints. We explain how to select the desirable process times within the schedulable process time range. We present a method of determining the tool operation schedule. For more flexible scheduling under the time constraints, we propose a modification of the conventional swap operation in order to allow wafer delay on a robot arm during a swap operation. We compare the performance of the new swap strategy with that of the conventional swap strategy.

show abstract

“…[17] also discusses a modification of the conventional swap operation of the dual-arm robot in which a wafer, that must wait for the availability of another module but cannot remain in the current module because the prolonged exposure to heat and/or chemical agents can create quality problems, is delayed on the robot's arm rather than in a module. A different approach to dealing with waiting time constraints of wafers (or residency constraints) is proposed in [35] where first an unconstrained schedule is considered, and if this schedule violates any residency constraints, some heuristic methods are used to modify the schedule (by increasing its cycle time).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cluster Tools With Chamber Revisiting—Modeling and Analysis Using Timed Petri Nets

Zuberek

2004

IEEE Trans. Semicond. Manufact.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract-Timed Petri nets are formal models of discrete concurrent systems. Since the durations of all activities are included in the model descriptions, many performance characteristics can be derived from such models. In the case of cluster tools, net models represent the flow of wafers through the chambers of the tool as well as consecutive actions performed by the robotic transporter. Steady-state performance of cluster tools with chamber revisiting is investigated in this paper. A systematic development of detailed tool schedules, based on a general behavioral description of the tool, is proposed and is used to derive the corresponding Petri net models. Symbolic performance characteristics of the modeled tools are obtained by using place invariants, without exhaustive reachability analysis. Simple examples presented in the paper can be easily extended in many ways.

show abstract

An optimal periodic scheduler for dual-arm robots in cluster tools with residency constraints

Cited by 151 publications

References 11 publications

Noncyclic scheduling of dual-armed cluster tools for minimization of wafer residency time and makespan

Noncyclic scheduling of dual-armed cluster tools for minimization of wafer residency time and makespan

Scheduling analysis of time-constrained dual-armed cluster tools

Cluster Tools With Chamber Revisiting—Modeling and Analysis Using Timed Petri Nets

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About