An automated shuttle sorter is disclosed that includes a carriage that is movable from a load position at which the carriage may be loaded, and at least two destination locations into which any contents of the carriage may be provided from the carriage.

A method for reconciliation in a drug filling line includes providing a batch number relating to a predetermined batch of containers to be filled with a drug. Each one of the containers is marked with a unique identifier differentiating and/or identifying each container among others. Each unique identifier is stored and associated with the batch number by a processing and control unit, before starting the filling step of each container. Filled containers are flashed by at least one identifier reader to check correspondence between the batch number being processed and each filled container, in order to validate or reject in real time each container with respect to a predetermined batch being processed by the filling line.

A board work system including: a conveying and holding device including a pair of rails configured to support a board, and a changing mechanism configured to change a distance between the pair of rails, the conveying and holding device being configured to convey the board supported by the rails and hold the board at a work position; a work device configured to perform work with respect to the board held by the conveying and holding device from an underside of the board; a moving device configured to move the work device; and a control device, the control device including an acquiring section configured to acquire a rail spacing distance that is the distance between the pair of rails, and an operation control section configured to control operation of the moving device based on the rail spacing distance acquired by the acquiring section.

A state determination device determines the state of a drive mechanism configured to operate while holding a substrate in a substrate processing apparatus. The state determination part includes: an acquisition part configured to acquire operation data for the drive mechanism; a model generation part configured to generate a monitoring model for the drive mechanism by executing machine learning using an auto-encoder based on normal operation data that is derived from the operation data acquired by the acquisition part when the drive mechanism is operating normally; and a first determination part configured to determine the state of the drive mechanism based on first output data obtained by inputting, to the monitoring model, evaluation data that is derived from the operation data acquired by the acquisition part when the drive mechanism is being evaluated.

A method for fault detection in a fabrication facility is provided. The method includes moving a wafer carrier along a predetermined path multiple times using a transportation apparatus. The method also includes collecting data associated with an environmental condition within the wafer carrier or around the wafer carrier using a metrology tool on the predetermined path in a previous movement of the transportation apparatus. The method further includes measuring the environmental condition within the wafer carrier or around the wafer carrier using the metrology tool during the movement of the wafer carrier. In addition, the method includes issuing a warning when the measured environmental condition is outside a range of acceptable values. The range of acceptable values is derived from the data collected in the previous movement of the transportation apparatus.

An automated palletizer for building a mixed case pallet, the automated palletizer including a case infeed that feeds mixed cases to provide an input queue feed sequence of mixed cases. At least one pallet building robot communicably connected to the case infeed and configured to receive the mixed cases in the input queue feed sequence of mixed cases, and place the mixed cases according to and dependent on the input queue feed sequence of mixed cases so as to effect building the mixed case pallet at a predetermined substantially steady placement rate. A controller communicably connected to the case infeed and at least one pallet building robot, and being configured so as to generate a complete and stable mixed case arrangement plan that completes at least a predetermined whole part of the mixed case pallet and that describes a predetermined planned location and pose for each case.

In a method for tracking packages on a conveyor section, the tracking rate of packages is intended to be maximized. This is achieved by providing a method for tracking packages on a conveyor section, the method comprising the following steps: a) providing a conveyor section having a conveyor surface for conveying a sequence of packages, the conveyor section comprising at least one photoelectric barrier for detecting the packages, b) detecting a photoelectric barrier pattern by means of the photoelectric barrier, the photoelectric barrier pattern being caused by the sequence of packages, c) detecting a conveyor speed of at least one subsection of the conveyor section, d) estimating an event sequence which has with the highest probability caused the photoelectric barrier pattern, while taking into account the conveyor speed of the conveyor section, by means of an algorithm, the algorithm comprising the following further steps: e) compiling a list of possible event sequences, f) sorting the event sequences with the aid of their occurrence probability, g) extending the most probable event sequence by all possible consecutive events, the probability of the event sequence being determined for each extension, h) incorporating the extensions as a new event sequence into the list of event sequences, i) repeating steps g) to h) until the most probable event sequence fully reflects the detected photoelectric barrier pattern.

A method for establishing and transmitting the status parameters of a conveyor and it's articles accumulated includes recording a first signal and a second signal with the first signal received from at least one sensor of a plurality of sensors in a conveyor zone and the second signal transmitted in response to receiving the first signal. The first signal is indicative of an article presence status in the conveyor zone and the second signal is indicative of an actuation status of the conveyor zone. Further, the method includes storing the first signal and the second signal recorded over a periodic scan cycle in a memory to create a historical log of the first signal and the second signal.

A platform for processing a workpiece includes a transmission mechanism, a plurality of workstations and a plurality of movable vehicles. The transmission mechanism transports the workpiece to be processed to one of the plurality of workstations. Each movable vehicle includes a processing module and a docking interface adapted to connect with a docking station of each workstation. The movable vehicles are each adapted to move in and out of each workstation, and each processing module is adapted to process the workpiece transmitted to the workstation after the movable vehicle is moved in and positioned in the workstation.

A method may include receiving topology information associated with a linear motor system that includes multiple track modules. Each track module may include one or more motors. The topology information may include one or more media access control (MAC) addresses associated with the motors. The method may also include associating one or more IP addresses with the MAC addresses associated with the motors, generating a configuration file associated with the linear motor system based on the topology information and the IP addresses, and transmitting one or more commands to the motors to control or adjust one or more operations of the motors based on the configuration file.