Patent ID: 7930061

Claim:
A system for loading and unloading substrate carriers onto and off of a transport system comprising: a substrate carrier handler adapted to transfer a substrate carrier between a docking station and a transport system, the substrate carrier handler including an end effector adapted to support the substrate carrier; a controller coupled to the substrate carrier handler and operative to control the substrate carrier handler such that the end effector of the substrate carrier handler is operative to selectively engage and disengage the substrate carrier to and from the transport system while the substrate carrier is in motion; and a sensor coupled to the controller and operative to provide a signal to the controller indicative of at least one of the type, position and speed of the substrate carrier throughout a horizontal range of motion of the end effector, wherein the controller includes two or more stored motion profiles and is operative to: dynamically adjust at least one of the speed and position of the substrate carrier handler based on the signal from the sensor to match the substrate carrier if the adjustment may be performed within a load or unload horizontal range of motion of the end effector of the substrate carrier handler, and modify a selected motion profile as the substrate carrier moves through the horizontal range of motion of the end effector based on the signal from the sensor.