A method for transporting inventory items includes moving a mobile drive unit to a first point within a workspace. The first point is a location of an inventory holder. The method further includes docking the mobile drive unit with the inventory holder and moving the mobile drive unit and the inventory holder to a second point within the workspace. The second point is associated with conveyance equipment. The method further includes moving the inventory holder to a third point within the workspace using the conveyance equipment.

A workpiece transfer apparatus for a furnace includes a carrier having access to a furnace and carrying a workpiece placed thereon, a controller for controlling movement of the carrier, the controller for determining an amount of deformation of the carrier by heat of the furnace, and the controller for determining an adjustment to the attitude of the carrier on the basis of the amount of deformation of the carrier, wherein when handing over the workpiece for a next process tool, the carrier is moved into an adjusted attitude.

A portion position calculator calculates positions of first to fifth portions of a substrate on a hand based on detection signals of first to fifth detectors. An imaginary circle calculator calculates four different imaginary circles based on the positions of the first to fourth portions, respectively, to calculate a center position of each imaginary circle. A substrate position determiner calculates a plurality of amounts of deviation among the plurality of center positions. When all of the plurality of amounts of deviation are not more than a threshold value, the substrate position determiner determines a position of the substrate on the hand based on any or all of the four imaginary circles. When at least one of the plurality of amounts of deviation exceeds the threshold value, the substrate position determiner selects an imaginary circle of the four imaginary circles, which passes through the position of the fifth portion, and determines the position of the substrate on the hand based on the selected imaginary circle. A substrate transport operation is controlled based on a result of the determination.

As deliveries of items containing dangerous goods are made from a vehicle/container, systems update stored information to reflect the reduced number of points of dangerous goods currently on the vehicle/container. Conversely, when the vehicle/container picks up dangerous goods, the systems update the information to reflect the increased number of points of dangerous goods currently on the vehicle/container. The systems identify potential delivery routes, such that the vehicle/container may deliver items containing dangerous goods prior to picking up new items, so as to maintain the total points of dangerous goods on the vehicle/container below a predetermined threshold.

In some embodiments, methods and systems are provided that include interconnected conveyors including multiple sensors configured to detect identifying characteristics and physical characteristics of the products traveling on the conveyors. The product-associated information that is detected by the sensors is analyzed relative to predefined product-associated identifying characteristics and physical characteristics stored in a database, and an error signal is generated if the actual, sensor-obtained product identifying characteristics and/or physical characteristics, do not correspond to the predefined, database-stored product identifying characteristics and/or physical characteristics.

A method and apparatus for within-wafer profile localized tuning is disclosed. In one aspect, the method includes providing a wafer attached to a rotating vacuum stage front side up, the wafer including a surface film with an incoming film thickness profile, providing a pad attached to a rotating head front side down, the head configured to sweep along a path, computing a film thickness removal amount based upon the incoming film thickness profile, and removing at least a portion of the surface film of the wafer based on the computed film thickness removal amount via a plurality of steps.

There is provided a machining system in which for automation of loading and unloading of an article with respect to a machining device, an operation of a robot can be easily set from a machine controller of the machining device. The machining system includes a machine controller and a robot controller. The machine controller includes a communication section configured to read from a storage section setting data and a robot operation program which correspond to the type of the machined article as set by a setting section when a determination section determines that the moving robot is disposed at a predetermined position, and transmit the same to the robot controller.

A substrate processing apparatus includes: first and second places in which a substrate can be placed; a substrate transfer device having a substrate holder that holds the substrate to transfer the substrate between the first and second places; and a substrate position measuring unit that detects a position of the substrate held by the substrate holder. The substrate position measuring unit, disposed independently of the substrate transfer device, is arranged at a position where the substrate held by the substrate holder of the substrate transfer device can be placed.

The present invention provides an automated modular system and method for production of biopolymers including DNA and RNA. The system and method automates the complete production process for biopolymers. Modular equipment is provided for performing production steps with the individual modules arrange in a linear array. Each module includes a control system and can be rack mounted. One side of the array of modules provides connections for power, gas, vacuum and reagents and is accessible to technicians. On the other side of the array of modules a robotic transport system is provided for transporting materials between module interfaces. The elimination of the requirement for human intervention at multiple steps in the production process significantly decreases the costs of biopolymer production and reduces unnecessary complexity and sources of quality variation.

Described in detail herein is an automated fulfillment system with automatic exception handling. A computing system can transmit instructions to an autonomous robot device to retrieve physical objects disposed in facility. An autonomous robot device can navigate to the location of the physical objects and pick up a first quantity of physical objects. The autonomous robot device can pick up the physical objects and can determine a set of attributes associated with the picked up physical objects. The autonomous robot device detect an error with the physical objects picked up by the autonomous robot device based on the set of attributes. The autonomous robot device can resolve the error with the physical objects that were picked up by the autonomous robot device. For example, autonomous robot device can discard the physical objects. The autonomous robot device can pick up replacement physical objects.