Cluster tool apparatus and a method of controlling a cluster tool apparatus

A method of controlling a transport-bound single-arm cluster tool to perform a processing cycle consisting of a plurality of processing steps, wherein the transport-bound single-arm cluster tool includes a plurality of processing modules for processing semiconductor products and a robot with a single-arm configured for moving a semiconductor product to and from the plurality of processing modules, the transport-bound single-arm cluster tool being configured to operate under a steady state in a transport-bound region in which a robot task time governs a processing cycle time relating to a duration required to complete one processing cycle, the method comprising the steps of:

• receiving, from a user interface, a plurality of system parameters relating to one or more processing steps of the processing cycle;
• determining, based on a semiconductor product residency time relating to a maximum amount of time that a semiconductor product can remain in any of the processing modules after being processed, a schedule for performing the processing cycle utilizing the plurality of processing modules;
• and
• determining a scheduling strategy that defines the order of processing steps in the processing cycle by solving a program so as to define an optimal schedule, wherein the scheduling strategy is determined based on a mathematical model of the processing cycle, wherein the mathematical model is a petri net that utilizes the plurality of system parameters to model the processing cycle and to model each processing step to include a plurality of transitions, wherein the system parameters include a time duration associated with each transition of the processing steps, and wherein the schedule outputs or sets one or more robot waiting times that minimize the processing cycle time while maintaining the semiconductor product residency time to define the optimal schedule.