Patent ID: 6556893
Filing Date: 2003-04-29
Classification: B25J,G05B,G06N,Y02P,Y10S

Abstract:
A method for calculating a control schedule for a robot within a fabrication system, the method comprising:determining operating characteristics for steps in a fabrication process, the operating characteristics comprising a robot movement matrix for movements between a plurality of processing stations and processing times for each of the processing stations; identifying a plurality of control schedules each detailing a process for a robot to shuttle wafers between the processing stations; determining fitness for each of the control schedules using the operating characteristics; mating the control schedules according to the fitness determined for each control schedule to create a resulting generation of control schedules; iterating the fitness determining and the mating for a plurality of resulting generations; selecting a chosen control schedule from a final one of the resulting generations based on fitness; and operating the robot according to the chosen control schedule.