公开(公告)号：US20170083000A1

公开(公告)日：2017-03-23

申请号：US14918570

申请日：2015-10-21

Applicant: Macau University of Science and Technology

Inventor： Naiqi Wu ,  Zicheng Liu

IPC: G05B19/402 ,  B25J9/00 ,  B25J9/16 ,  B25J11/00

CPC classification number: G05B19/402 ,  B25J9/1682 ,  G05B19/41865 ,  G05B2219/32265 ,  G05B2219/32373 ,  G05B2219/32376 ,  G05B2219/40238 ,  G05B2219/45031 ,  H01L21/67276 ,  Y10S901/02 ,  Y10S901/41

Abstract: It is very difficult to schedule a single-arm cluster tool with wafer revisiting such that wafer residency time constraints are satisfied. The present invention conducts a study on this challenging problem for a single-arm cluster tool with atomic layer deposition (ALD) process. With a so called p-backward strategy being applied, a Petri net model is developed to describe the dynamic behavior of the system. Based on the model, existence of a feasible schedule is analyzed, schedulability conditions are derived, and scheduling algorithms are presented if there is a schedule. A schedule is obtained by simply setting the robot waiting time if schedulable and it is very computationally efficient. The obtained schedule is shown to be optimal. Illustrative examples are given to demonstrate the proposed approach.

公开(公告)号：US10346214B2

公开(公告)日：2019-07-09

申请号：US15649634

申请日：2017-07-13

Applicant: Macau University of Science and Technology

Inventor： Zhiwu Li ,  Oussama Karoui ,  Naiqi Wu ,  Mohamed Khalgui

IPC: G06F9/46 ,  G06F9/50 ,  G06F9/48

Abstract: Given a sequential resource allocation system (RAS) topology structure, a state space, called an impulse state space, corresponding to the impulse response of a linear time-invariant system (LTS), is computed by small enough configuration of the considered RAS. Given an initial resource configuration of a RAS which corresponds to an input of an LTS, a complete state enumeration can be obtained by defining the convolution of this configuration with the pre-computed impulse state space. One example embodiment reduces central processing unit (CPU) time to process instructions that compute a target state space of a RAS includes constructing an initial RAS and an initial state space, and extending the initial state space iteratively under a target resource configuration.

公开(公告)号：US09957959B2

公开(公告)日：2018-05-01

申请号：US14919706

申请日：2015-10-21

Applicant: Macau University of Science and Technology

Inventor： Naiqi Wu ,  Zhiwu Li

IPC: G05D7/06 ,  G05B15/02 ,  F04B49/06 ,  G06Q10/06 ,  F04B23/04

CPC classification number: F04B49/065 ,  F04B23/04 ,  F04B2205/09 ,  F04B2207/041 ,  G06Q10/0631 ,  Y02P80/10 ,  Y02P90/86

Abstract: For sustainable development, a refinery is required to save energy as much as possible so as to reduce the emission of greenhouse gas. In crude oil operations, oil transportation from storage tanks to charging tanks via a pipeline consumes a large portion of energy. It is vitally important to minimize energy consumption for this process. Since the oil flow resistance is proportional to the square of oil flow rate, the relation between energy efficiency and flow rate is nonlinear, which makes the problem complicated. The present invention addresses this important issue by formulating a linear programming model for the considered problem such that it can be efficiently solved. A real-world industrial case study is used to demonstrate the applications and significance of the proposed method.

公开(公告)号：US20180082878A1

公开(公告)日：2018-03-22

申请号：US15272706

申请日：2016-09-22

Applicant: Macau University of Science and Technology

Inventor： Yan Qiao ,  Mengchu Zhou ,  Naiqi Wu ,  Zhiwu Li ,  Qinghua Zhu

IPC: H01L21/677

CPC classification number: H01L21/67167 ,  H01L21/67745

Abstract: A system and method for a cluster tool apparatus for processing a semiconductor product including processing modules located adjacent each other and configured to process a semiconductor module, loadlocks configured to retain and dispense unprocessed semiconductor products and each positioned adjacent one of the processing modules, a robot configured to load, transfer and unload a semiconductor product to and from the processing modules, a hardware controller in communication with the robot and executing a method to close down the cluster tool apparatus to an idle state, the method including determining a status of the processing modules, determining if a close down process is required based on the status or based on a close down signal, and, if required, determining a schedule for a close down process based on a semiconductor product residency parameter, and controlling the operation of the robot based on the schedule to perform the close down process.

公开(公告)号：US20170329348A1

公开(公告)日：2017-11-16

申请号：US15153778

申请日：2016-05-13

Applicant: Macau University of Science and Technology

Inventor： Zhiwu Li ,  Oussama Karoui ,  Anis Koubaa ,  Mohamed Khalgui ,  Emna Guerfala ,  Eduardo Tovard ,  Naiqi Wu

IPC: G05D1/02 ,  G05D1/00

CPC classification number: G05D1/0295 ,  B60K31/00 ,  B60W30/14 ,  G05D1/0027 ,  G05D1/0212 ,  G05D1/0278 ,  G05D2201/0213 ,  G08G1/22

Abstract: A method for operating a follower vehicle in a vehicle platoon includes determining, during operation, whether the follower vehicle is operating in a normal state or an abnormal state based on an operation condition of a component of the follower vehicle, or a communication between the follower vehicle and a preceding vehicle in the vehicle platoon. The method further includes selecting a first control mode if the follower vehicle is in the normal state and a second control mode if the follower vehicle is in the abnormal state so as to control movement of the follower vehicle using the selected control mode. In the first control mode, the follower vehicle uses communication data received from the preceding vehicle in the vehicle platoon to control its movement. In the second control mode, the follower vehicle uses data obtained by one or more of its sensors to control its movement.

公开(公告)号：US09618930B1

公开(公告)日：2017-04-11

申请号：US14918557

申请日：2015-10-20

Applicant: Macau University of Science and Technology

Inventor： Naiqi Wu ,  Yan Qiao ,  Mengchu Zhou

IPC: G05B19/418 ,  B25J9/16 ,  H01L21/67 ,  H01L21/677 ,  H01L21/68

CPC classification number: G05B19/41885 ,  B25J9/1669 ,  G05B19/41865 ,  G05B2219/39536 ,  G05B2219/45031 ,  H01L21/67276 ,  H01L21/67745

Abstract: Due to the trend of using larger wafer diameter and smaller lot size, cluster tools need to switch from processing one lot of wafers to another frequently. It leads to more transient periods in wafer fabrication. Their efficient scheduling and control problems become more and more important. It becomes difficult to solve such problems, especially when wafer residency time constraints must be considered. This work develops a Petri net model to describe the behavior during the start-up transient processes of a single-arm cluster tool. Then, based on the model, for the case that the difference of workloads among the steps is not too large and can be properly balanced, a scheduling algorithm to find an optimal feasible schedule for the start-up process is given. For other cases schedulable at the steady state, a linear programming model is developed to find an optimal feasible schedule for the start-up process.

公开(公告)号：US20170083008A1

公开(公告)日：2017-03-23

申请号：US14918577

申请日：2015-10-21

Applicant: Macau University of Science and Technology

Inventor： Naiqi Wu ,  Qinghua Zhu ,  Yan Qiao ,  Mengchu Zhou

IPC: G05B19/418

CPC classification number: G05B19/4187 ,  G05B2219/45031 ,  G05B2219/50291 ,  Y02P90/205 ,  Y02P90/26

Abstract: The scheduling problem of a multi-cluster tool with a tree topology whose bottleneck tool is process-bound is investigated. A method for scheduling the multi-cluster tool to thereby generate an optimal one-wafer cyclic schedule for this multi-cluster tool is provided. A Petri net (PN) model is developed for the multi-cluster tool by explicitly modeling robot waiting times such that a schedule is determined by setting the robot waiting times. Based on the PN model, sufficient and necessary conditions under which a one-wafer cyclic schedule exists are derived and it is shown that an optimal one-wafer cyclic schedule can be always found. Then, efficient algorithms are given to find the optimal cycle time and its optimal schedule. Examples are used to demonstrate the scheduling method.

公开(公告)号：US20170080563A1

公开(公告)日：2017-03-23

申请号：US14918557

申请日：2015-10-20

Applicant: Macau University of Science and Technology

Inventor： Naiqi Wu ,  Yan Qiao ,  Mengchu Zhou

IPC: B25J9/16 ,  H01L21/677 ,  H01L21/68 ,  H01L21/67

CPC classification number: G05B19/41885 ,  B25J9/1669 ,  G05B19/41865 ,  G05B2219/39536 ,  G05B2219/45031 ,  H01L21/67276 ,  H01L21/67745

Abstract: Due to the trend of using larger wafer diameter and smaller lot size, cluster tools need to switch from processing one lot of wafers to another frequently. It leads to more transient periods in wafer fabrication. Their efficient scheduling and control problems become more and more important. It becomes difficult to solve such problems, especially when wafer residency time constraints must be considered. This work develops a Petri net model to describe the behavior during the start-up transient processes of a single-arm cluster tool. Then, based on the model, for the case that the difference of workloads among the steps is not too large and can be properly balanced, a scheduling algorithm to find an optimal feasible schedule for the start-up process is given. For other cases schedulable at the steady state, a linear programming model is developed to find an optimal feasible schedule for the start-up process.

公开(公告)号：US09227318B1

公开(公告)日：2016-01-05

申请号：US14639137

申请日：2015-03-05

Applicant: Macau University of Science and Technology

Inventor： Liping Bai ,  Naiqi Wu ,  Zhiwu Li ,  Mengchu Zhou

IPC: G06F19/00 ,  B25J9/00 ,  G05B19/418 ,  G06F17/50

CPC classification number: B25J9/009 ,  G05B19/41865 ,  G05B2219/45032 ,  G06F17/5013 ,  H01L21/67184 ,  H01L21/67276 ,  Y10S901/02 ,  Y10S901/41

Abstract: A method for scheduling single-arm multi-cluster tools is provided. The present invention studies the scheduling problem of a single-arm multi-cluster tool with a linear topology and process-bound bottleneck individual tool. Its objective is to find a one-wafer cyclic schedule such that the lower bound of cycle time is reached by optimally configuring spaces in buffering modules that link individual cluster tools. A Petri net model is developed to describe the dynamic behavior of the system by extending resource-oriented Petri nets such that a schedule can be parameterized by robots' waiting time. Based on this model, conditions are presented under which a one-wafer cyclic schedule with lower bound of cycle time can be found. With the derived conditions, an algorithm is presented to find such a schedule and optimally configure the buffer spaces.

Abstract translation: 提供了一种用于调度单臂多群集工具的方法。 本发明研究了具有线性拓扑和过程限制瓶颈的单个工具的单臂多群集工具的调度问题。 其目的是找到一个单晶圆循环调度，以便通过在链接各个集群工具的缓冲模块中最佳配置空间来达到循环时间的下限。 Petri网模型被开发用于通过扩展资源导向的Petri网来描述系统的动态行为，使得可以通过机器人的等待时间对时间表进行参数化。 基于该模型，提出了可以找到具有周期时间下限的单晶片循环调度的条件。 使用派生条件，提出了一种算法来查找这样的调度并最佳地配置缓冲区空间。