Apparatus and methods for handling semiconductor part carriers

An apparatus for handling semiconductor part carriers, comprising:

• a mechanical arm configured for holding a semiconductor part carrier, wherein the mechanical arm has a shape of a fork that comprises a handle and a first prong and a second prong each coupled to the handle;
• an imaging system coupled to the mechanical arm and configured for automatically locating a goal position on a surface onto which the semiconductor part carrier is to be placed, wherein the mechanical arm is configured to place the semiconductor part carrier onto the goal position on the surface, wherein the goal position is indicated by an optical code, wherein the optical code is located at an outer side of the goal position;
• and
• a pair of pressure sensors located on the mechanical arm and configured for determining a holding status of the semiconductor part carrier held by the mechanical arm based on pressure detection, wherein the pair of pressure sensors is configured to sense a respective pair of pressures applied by the semiconductor part carrier onto the mechanical arm to produce a respective pair of continuous pressure values, wherein each of the respective pair of continuous pressure values is compared to a predetermined pressure threshold for determining the holding status, wherein a first one of the pair of pressure sensors is located at a first distance from the handle along the first prong in an X direction, a second one of the pair of pressure sensors is located at a second distance from the handle along the second prong in the X direction, wherein the first distance is different from the second distance.

A method for handling semiconductor part carriers, comprising:

• holding a semiconductor part carrier by a mechanical arm, wherein the mechanical arm has a shape of a fork that comprises a handle and a first prong and a second prong each coupled to the handle;
• automatically locating a goal position on a surface onto which the semiconductor part carrier is to be placed, wherein automatically locating the goal position comprises:
• actively emitting a light to an optical code on the surface,
• capturing a picture of the optical code based on the light, and
• determining the goal position on the surface based on the picture of the optical code, wherein the optical code is located at an outer side of the goal position placing the semiconductor part carrier onto the goal position on the surface;
• using a pair of pressure sensors to determine whether each of a pair of pressures applied by the semiconductor part carrier onto the mechanical arm is less than a predetermined pressure threshold by comparing a respective one of a pair of continuous pressure values sensed by a respective one of the pair of pressure sensors to the predetermined pressure threshold, wherein a first one of the pair of pressure sensors is located at a first distance from the handle along the first prong in an X direction, a second one of the pair of pressure sensors is located at a second distance from the handle along the second prong in the X direction, wherein the first distance is different from the second distance, and wherein the semiconductor part carrier is determined to be successfully held by the mechanical arm when the holding status of the semiconductor part carrier is simultaneously determined by the pair of pressure sensors;
• and
• determining that the semiconductor part carrier is not correctly held by the mechanical arm when the applied pressure is less than the predetermined pressure threshold.