The disclosure provides an apparatus, system and method for providing an end effector. The end effector may be capable of accommodating semiconductor wafers of varying sizes, and may include: a wafer support; a bearing arm capable of interfacing with at least one robotic element, and at least partially bearing the wafer support at one end thereof; a plurality of support pads on the wafer support for physically interfacing with a one of the semiconductor wafers; and a low friction moving clamp driven bi-directionally along a plane at least partially provided by the bearing arm, wherein the low friction moving clamp retractably applies force to a proximal edge of the semiconductor wafer.

A system for monitoring alignment of a second component relative to a first component includes a camera, and a controller including a processor and a nontransitory memory. The controller is configured to receive a first captured image from the camera when the second component is in a predetermined position relative to the first component, receive a selection of a region of interest (ROI) in the first captured image, identify a visible feature of the second component within the ROI of the first captured image, receive captured images from the camera during a subsequent operation, identify a second captured image when the second component is expected to be in the predetermined position relative to the first component, and determine if the second component is in the predetermined position relative to the first component based on the second captured image and the identified visible feature of the first captured image.

A surgical instrument is provided, including: at least one articulatable arm having a distal end, a proximal end, and at least one joint region disposed between the distal and proximal ends; an optical fiber bend sensor provided in the at least one joint region of the at least one articulatable arm; a detection system coupled to the optical fiber bend sensor, said detection system comprising a light source and a light detector for detecting light reflected by or transmitted through the optical fiber bend sensor to determine a position of at least one joint region of the at least one articulatable arm based on the detected light reflected by or transmitted through the optical fiber bend sensor; and a control system comprising a servo controller for effectuating movement of the arm.

A substrate transfer apparatus includes a base, an arm, an end effector provided at a tip of the arm and having first and second tip portions that are bifurcated, a light emitting unit, a light receiving unit, and a control device controlling an operation of the arm. The control device controls an operation of the arm so that light straightly traveling through a tip of the end effector scans edges of a plurality of substrates accommodated in a front opening unified pod (FOUP), and compares shape patterns of a measured waveform of an output value continuously changed in the light receiving unit with shape patterns of a reference waveform for comparison according to a relative positional relationship between the light and substrate during the operation of the arm and diagnoses at least one of a state of the substrate, the FOUP, and the end effector based on a comparison result.

A fibre system for determining the shape of a flexible object, the system having at least one coated optical fibre, the coated optical fibre having at least one optical fibre having at least one portion including a periodic distributed Bragg reflector within the fibre, the at least one optical fibre being placed in and with a first flexible tube positioned around, and wherein the first flexible tube further has a first coating positioned around it.

An apparatus, system and method for providing an optical coupler. The optical coupler may be a miniature fiber optic coupler, which may include: a housing having dimensions of less than 4 mm4 mm4 mm; an input into the housing capable of receiving a fiber optic sending line; a sending line prism having dimensions of less than 2 mm2 mm within the housing in optical communication with the sending line; a receiving line prism having dimensions of less than 2 mm2 mm in optical communication with the sending line prism at a corresponded angle in a range of 30 to 60 degrees and capable of receiving a signal incoming on the sending line and redirecting the received signal; and a receiving line in optical communication with the receiving line prism and capable of receiving and outputting the redirected received signal.

An OSS guiding and monitoring system employs an interventional device (40) including an integration of a OSS sensor (20) and one or more interventional tools (30), the OSS sensor (20) for generating shape sensing data informative of a shape of the OSS sensor (20) as the interventional device (40) is navigated within an anatomical region. The OSS guiding and monitoring system further employs an OSS guiding controller (90) for controlling a reconstruction of a shape of the interventional device (40) within the anatomical region responsive to a generation of the shape sensing data by the OSS sensor (20), and an OSS monitoring controller (100) for controlling a monitoring of a degree of folding and/or a degree of twisting of the interventional device (40) within the anatomical region.

Embodiments include systems for determining one or more properties of an object. In an embodiment, a system includes a gripping element, a light source, a probe element including an optical fiber, a spectrometer, and a processor. The gripping element is configured to grasp the object. The light source is configured to illuminate the object. The probe element is operatively coupled to the gripping element. The optical fiber is configured to transmit reflected light from the object. The spectrometer configured to: (i) receive the transmitted reflected light from the optical fiber and (ii) generate spectral data based on the received transmitted reflected light. The processor is configured to: (i) receive the generated spectral data from the spectrometer and (ii) determine one or more properties of the object based on the received generated spectral data.

The disclosure provides an apparatus, system and method for providing an end effector. The end effector may be capable of accommodating semiconductor wafers of varying sizes, and may include: a wafer support; a bearing arm capable of interfacing with at least one robotic element, and at least partially bearing the wafer support at one end thereof; a plurality of support pads on the wafer support for physically interfacing with a one of the semiconductor wafers; and a low friction moving clamp driven bi-directionally along a plane at least partially provided by the bearing arm, wherein the low friction moving clamp retractably applies force to a proximal edge of the semiconductor wafer.