Granted Patent B2

US 8,112,171 · App. 11/196,063 · Granted Feb 7, 2012

Abstract

Claims (41)

1. A substrate transport apparatus auto-teach system for auto-teaching a substrate station location, the system comprising:

a frame;

a substrate transport apparatus movably connected to the frame and having an associated transport apparatus coordinate system;

an aligner connected to the frame; and

a control system operably connected to the transport apparatus and programmed to position with the transport apparatus, an object on the aligner, and to measure with the aligner a spatial relationship between the object and the aligner;

wherein the control system is programmed with uncalibrated spatial coordinates, within the transport apparatus coordinate system, identifying a location of the substrate station, and the program is arranged to combine the uncalibrated spatial coordinates and the measured spatial relationship to generate calibrated spatial coordinates identifying the location of the substrate station.

2. The substrate transport apparatus auto-teach system of claim 1 , wherein the substrate station is a processing module.

3. The substrate transport apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the substrate station is a load lock.

4. A substrate transport apparatus auto-teach system for auto-teaching a substrate station location, the system comprising:

a frame;

a substrate alignment device connected to the frame;

a first substrate transport apparatus movably connected to the frame;

a second substrate transport apparatus movably connected to the frame; and

a controller configured to calibrate the substrate alignment device with a motion of the first substrate transport apparatus and calibrate a coordinate system of the second substrate transport apparatus with the substrate alignment device.

5. The substrate transport apparatus auto-teach system of claim 4 , wherein the controller is further configured to,

cause the first substrate transport apparatus to pick a substrate with a first offset from the substrate alignment device,

record a first misalignment of the substrate,

cause the first substrate transport apparatus to pick the substrate with a second offset from substrate alignment device,

record a second misalignment of the substrate, and

calculate a first calibration factor for the substrate alignment device from the first and second misalignments.

6. The substrate transport apparatus auto-teach system of claim 5 , wherein the first and second offsets are radial offsets.

7. The substrate transport apparatus auto-teach system of claim 5 , wherein the controller is further configured to retrieve a previously stored calibration factor for the substrate alignment device from a memory location, store the first calibration factor in the memory location, and recalculate the first calibration factor if the ratio of the first calibration factor and the previously stored calibration factor is not less than a certain threshold.

8. The substrate transport apparatus auto-teach system of claim 4 , wherein the controller is further configured to,

cause the second substrate apparatus to place a substrate on the substrate alignment device with a third offset,

record a third misalignment of the substrate,

cause the second substrate apparatus to place the substrate on the substrate alignment device with a fourth offset,

record a fourth misalignment of the substrate, and

adjust the coordinate system of the second substrate transport apparatus using the third and fourth misalignments.

9. The substrate transport apparatus auto-teach system of claim 8 , wherein the third offset comprises a radial offset.

10. The substrate transport apparatus auto-teach system of claim 8 , wherein the fourth offset comprises a tangential offset.

11. The substrate transport apparatus auto-teach system of claim 8 , wherein the third and fourth misalignments each comprise a linear misalignment and an angular misalignment.

12. The substrate transport apparatus auto-teach system of claim 4 , further comprising at least two load locks wherein the controller is further configured to,

cause placement of a substrate in a first one of the at least two load locks with one of the first and second substrate transport apparatus,

cause movement of the substrate to a second one of the at least two load locks with the one of the first and second substrate transport apparatus,

record of a fifth misalignment of the substrate in the second one of the at least two load locks, and

calculate new location coordinates for the second one of the at least two load locks using the fifth misalignment.

13. The substrate transport apparatus auto-teach system of claim 4 , further comprising at least one processing module wherein the controller is further configured to,

cause placement of a substrate at a known location in the at least one processing module with the second substrate transport apparatus,

cause picking of the substrate from the at least one processing module with the second substrate transport apparatus for transport to the substrate alignment device,

record a sixth misalignment of the substrate, and

calculate new location coordinates for the at least one processing module using the sixth misalignment.

Assignments (9)