A vacuum substrate transport apparatus including a frame, a drive section having a drive axis, at least one arm, having an end effector for holding a substrate, having at least one degree of freedom axis effecting extension and retraction, and a bearing defining a guideway that defines the axis, the bearing including at least one rolling load bearing element disposed in a bearing case, interfacing between a bearing raceway and bearing rail to support arm loads, and effecting sliding of the case along the rail, and at least one rolling, substantially non-load bearing, spacer element disposed in the case, intervening between each of the load bearing elements, wherein the spacer element is a sacrificial buffer material compatible with sustained substantially unrestricted service commensurate with a predetermined service duty of the apparatus in a vacuum environment at temperatures over 260° C. for a specified predetermined service period.

A robotic apparatus includes a first guide rail; an elongate support attached to the first guide rail, the elongate support being movable along the first guide rail in two directions and rotatable at each position along the first guide rail; a first limb movable along a second guide rail in the elongate support, the first limb being extendable and retractable; a second limb pivotably attached to the first limb; an end effector mount located at the second limb and rotatable at one end of the second limb; and a third guide rail attached to the elongate support to guide movement of the elongate support in the two directions that the elongate support is movable along the first guide rail; and driving mechanisms to drive movements of the robotic apparatus.

In an embodiment, a method during execution of a motion plan by a robotic arm includes determining a voice command from speech of a user said during the execution of the motion plan, determining a modification of the motion plan based on the voice command from the speech of the user, and executing the modification of the motion plan by the robotic arm.

Cable-driven robotic platform systems and methods of operation are disclosed. The system includes a robotic platform suspended by a system of overhead cables, motorized cable reels and pulleys. A master control computer coordinates operation of the motorized cable system as a function of sensor data captured by navigation sensors on-board the platform so as to move the robotic platform inside an industrial plant. The system is configured to maneuver around pipings and avoid obstacles in the plant in order to maximize the effective workspace that the robotic platform can reach to perform operations including inspection or repair. Additionally, a robotic “wire jacket” device can be attached to suspension cables and configured to crawl along a cable. The wire-jacket can be selectively positioned on a cable to provide an intermediate cable suspension point that improves platform mobility within congested spaces and avoids obstacles.

A multi-axis gantry system comprising a multi-axis gantry apparatus and vacuum system, and method for repositioning is disclosed. The multi-axis gantry system comprises a frame. The frame includes a plurality of curved base members, a first rail, a second rail, a bridge slidably moveable along the first rail and the second rail, a carriage including an end effector, and a first plurality of pucks and a second plurality of pucks. The vacuum system comprises a vacuum controller, a first vacuum source and a second vacuum source. Each of the first and second vacuum sources is in fluid communication with one or more pucks of the first and second pluralities of pucks. The frame is reconfigurable from a first configuration mountable on a first work surface to a second configuration mountable on a second work surface that may be different from the first work surface.

A sealed actuator including stacked motor modules. Each motor module has a motor module housing, a motor stator attached to a respective motor module housing, a motor rotor in communication with a respective motor stator, and a stator seal disposed between the motor stator and motor rotor, surrounding the motor rotor and having a sealing surface interface, that interfaces with a respective sealing housing surface of the motor module housing, facing the motor rotor to seal the motor stator from the motor rotor. The motor module housings are stacked against each other and the sealing housing surface interfaced, at the sealing surface interface facing the rotors, to the respective stacked stator seals of the motor module housings forms a substantially continuous seal interface of the stacked motor modules sealed by the stacked stator seals to form a continuous barrier seal between the motor rotors and the motor stators.

The present invention provides a swarm manufacturing platform, based on a swarm 3D printing and assembly (SPA) platform as a model for future smart factories, consisting of thousands of IoT-based mobile robots performing different manufacturing operations with different end effectors (e.g., material deposition, energy deposition, pick and place, removal of materials, screw driving, etc.) and real-time monitoring. The swarm manufacturing platform transforms a 1-D factory into a 2-D factory with manufacturing robots that can move across the 2-D factory floor, work cooperatively with each other on the same production jobs, and re-configure in real-time (i.e., the manufacturing robots can be digitally controlled to move, re-group, calibrate, and work on a new job in real-time).

The invention relates to a system and method for the robotic and automated, coordinated, collaborative changing of mill liners, the configuration thereof allowing the full robotic and automated manipulation of the method, by means of a remote command entered by an operator by means of a processor of a control system. The system of the invention comprises: at least one robotic manipulator (2) located outside of the mill; at least one robotic manipulator (3) located inside the mill; a control system; and a series of tools that are taken and manipulated automatically by the robotic manipulators (2, 3), such that the control system sends a command to operate the at least one external manipulator (2) and the at least one internal manipulator (3) to carry out the steps of changing at least one liner of the mill in a coordinated manner with collaboration between at least the two robotic manipulators.

A robot includes a power source and a power transmission mechanism configured to transmit an output of the power source. The power transmission mechanism includes a fixed member, a first pulley configured to rotate around a first axis with respect to the fixed member, a second pulley disposed to be separated from the first pulley and configured to rotate, with respect to the fixed member, around a second axis parallel to the first axis, a belt wound around the first pulley and the second pulley and configured to transmit the rotation of one of the first pulley and the second pulley to another, a restricting member including a restricting section disposed to be opposed to the belt with a gap in a portion where the first pulley and the belt mesh with each other, and a screw having a center axis along the first axis and configured to fix the restricting member to the fixed member. The restricting member rotates around the center axis to thereby change a separation distance between the restricting section and the belt in a plan view from a direction extending along the first axis.

A film peeling apparatus for peeling a film from an object includes a peeling module including a first frame, a second frame connected to the first frame and including a rotation body and a gripper which grips the film attached to the object and to be removed from the object, and is rotatable about a rotation axis of the rotation body connecting the first frame and the gripper, and a third frame defining a boundary at which the film to be removed is peeled from the object, and an articulated robot including an articulated arm connected to the first frame.