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US 2026/0310216 A1Published application
Systems and methods for raised floor automated sensor vehicles
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsCheng-Kang HU, Cheng-Hung CHEN, Yan-Han CHEN, Feng-Kuang WU, Hsu-Shui LIU, Jiun-Rong PAI, Shou-Wen KUO
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Abstract
In an embodiment a system includes: an automated vehicle configured to traverse a first predetermined path; and a sensor system located on the automated vehicle, the sensor system configured to detect a vertical obstacle along the first predetermined path along one or two floorboards ahead of the automated vehicle, wherein the automated vehicle is configured to traverse a second predetermined path in response to detecting the vertical obstacle.
Claims20
A system, comprising:
- an automated vehicle configured to traverse a raised floorboard platform along a first predetermined path;
- a depth sensor located on the automated vehicle, the depth sensor having a two dimensional field of view oriented at an angle from a surface of the automated vehicle, the depth sensor configured to:
- detect a vertical obstacle along the first predetermined path based on a variation in depth along a horizontal line across the raised floorboard platform within the two dimensional field of view;
- a pathing module configured to analyze a layout of a semiconductor fabrication facility and determine the first predetermined path between different wafer handling areas autonomously and without external manual guidance;
- and
- wherein the automated vehicle is configured to traverse the raised floorboard platform along a second predetermined path determined by the pathing module in response to detecting the vertical obstacle.
3 more elements
A method, comprising:
- determining, by a pathing module of an automated vehicle, a first path to traverse over a raised floorboard platform in a semiconductor fabrication facility;
- activating a depth sensor located on the automated vehicle;
- collecting depth sensor data along a horizontal line ahead of the automated vehicle as the automated vehicle moves along the first path;
- detecting a vertical obstacle ahead of the automated vehicle based on a step change in the depth sensor data across the horizontal line that is greater than a threshold amount;
- and
- performing remediation in response to detecting the vertical obstacle, wherein performing remediation comprises triggering the pathing module to analyze an updated layout including the detected vertical obstacle and determine a redirected path.
3 more elements
A system, comprising:
- a raised floorboard platform comprising a plurality of individual floorboard pieces arranged in a grid;
- a first wafer handling area including a first wafer store;
- a second wafer handling area including a second wafer store;
- a first type of automated sensor vehicle positioned adjacent to the first wafer store, the first type of automated sensor vehicle including a robotic arm configured to manipulate wafer carriers;
- a second type of automated sensor vehicle configured to transport wafer carriers between the first wafer handling area and the second wafer handling area across the raised floorboard platform, the second type of automated sensor vehicle including a depth sensor configured to detect a vertical obstacle along the raised floorboard platform;
- and
- a communications interface configured to autonomously coordinate wafer transport between the first type of automated sensor vehicle and the second type of automated sensor vehicle.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.