Design and implementation of a robot assisted crucible charging system

Vivek A. Sujan, Steven Dubowsky, Yoshi Ohkami

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

A robotic system is developed to automate the packing of polycrystalline silicon nuggets into a fragile fused silica crucible in CZ semiconductor wafer production. The highly irregular shapes of the nuggets make this a difficult and challenging task. In this system, nugget grasping is done with a three-cup suction gripper and nugget manipulation is attained with a 7 DOF SCARA manipulator. An optical 3-D vision system, based on active laser triangulation, measures nugget and crucible profiles. A model-free Virtual Trial and Error packing algorithm determines optimal nugget placement in real time. A hybrid position-force control scheme has been implemented and tested for physical nugget placement. The integrated system achieves high production rates, required precision and cost effectiveness.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1969-1975
Number of pages7
JournalProceedings - IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
Volume2
StatePublished - 2000
Externally publishedYes
EventICRA 2000: IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation - San Francisco, CA, USA
Duration: Apr 24 2000Apr 28 2000

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