Some embodiments include electric power demand stabilization methods and systems that may include measuring the power draw of a plurality of controllable devices; determining a rolling average power draw for the plurality of controllable devices over a period of time; measuring an instantaneous power draw of the plurality of controllable devices; and calculating a power budget comprising the difference between the instantaneous power draw and the rolling average power draw. In the event the power budget is positive, increasing power to at least a first subset of the plurality of controllable devices. In the event the power budget is negative, decreasing power to at least a second subset of the plurality of controllable devices.

A robot system includes a robot arm driven by an electric motor and a vehicle that is movable and supports the robot arm. A control method includes (a) moving the vehicle to a work station of a first type and (b) driving the robot arm in the work station of the first type. The (a) executes a first operation mode for, in a part of the movement to the work station of the first type, moving the vehicle in a state in which electric power is not supplied to the electric motor, starting supply of the electric power to the electric motor during the movement of the vehicle in the state in which the electric power is not supplied to the electric motor, and arranging the vehicle in the work station of the first type in a state in which the electric power is supplied to the electric motor.

A method for operating an automation machine having a field bus device and an energy consumer connected to the field bus device, includes storing energy data relating to the energy consumer in the field bus device before operation of the automation machine, the energy data identifying an energy mode being stored, reading the energy data from the field bus device by a first control device connected to the field bus device via a field bus, and using the energy data for energy-saving operation of the automation machine during operation of the automation machine.

A device for controlling an operating state of at least one component of a production plant, including an energy control unit for providing a state change signal for changing the operating state of the at least one component from a first operating state to a second operating state, wherein the device includes a monitoring unit which is designed to receive the state change signal of the energy control unit, and to provide the state change signal of the energy control unit for changing the first operating state to the second operating state, and to modify the state change signal of the energy control unit for providing the second operating state, and to block the state change signal of the energy control unit for preventing a change of state into the second operating state.

A numerical controller looks ahead a machining program to detect consecutive non-cutting blocks. The numerical controller calculates first consumed power needed during an execution duration of the non-cutting blocks to shift equipment to a power saving state, operate the equipment in the power saving state, and restore the equipment to a state before the shifting to the power saving state, and second consumed power needed during the execution duration of the non-cutting blocks to operate the equipment without shifting the equipment to the power saving state. When a result of the calculation indicates that the first consumed power is lower than the second consumed power, the numerical controller creates an equipment operation variation pattern according to which the equipment is to be shifted to the power saving state, operated in the power saving state, and then restored to the state before the shifting to the power saving state.

Methods and apparatus for enhanced control over electronic device manufacturing systems are provided herein. In some embodiments, the integrated sub-fab system may employ Ethernet and/or RS232 Serial communications through an open platform of apparatus to achieve a reduced carbon footprint during electronic device manufacturing. For this example, the system could include a process tool set and controller linked by sensors or software interconnect with one or more sub-fab or local factory auxiliary systems that can be operated in one or more states of energy consumption. These one or more auxiliary systems can be switched between different levels of energy consumption, as required by the process, via the controller. For many auxiliary components or systems the integrated sub-fab system utilizes existing signal outputs, for others they may employ secondary sensors or monitors.

Provided is a production control system of a factory including: a plurality of machines; an air conditioner; a power computation unit for monitoring power consumption of an entire factory; a temperature information generation unit for generating information on temperature inside the factory; wherein running status and processing condition of the machines and running status of the air conditioner are controlled to produce the products dictated by the production plan by a delivery deadline; and a machine learning unit that learns a relationship of operational status including the running status and the processing condition of the machines and the running status of the air conditioner to environmental status including production completion time according to the operational status, the temperature inside the factory, and the power consumption of the factory, and outputs operational status that brings the environmental status to a desired condition in accordance with the production plan.

A control device has a monitoring section that monitors an amount of electric energy of a first machine, and a power supply controller that controls power supply of a second machine in accordance with an amount of electric energy of the first machine and schedule information indicative of an operation schedule of each of the first machine and the second machine.

Some embodiments include electric power demand stabilization methods and systems that may include receiving an indication that a specific controllable device will have a high power draw event; retrieving a power draw profile for the specific controllable device that includes at least a maximum power draw and an event duration; identifying a plurality of low priority controllable devices with a combined power draw that is substantially equal to the maximum power draw of the specific controllable device; and turning off the plurality of low priority controllable devices for a time period substantially equal to the event duration.

Accessing an energy management policy for a plurality of devices is described, wherein the devices are coupled with a first structure. The energy usage of the devices is monitored. An energy usage rule and energy usage is then compared. The energy management policy and energy usage is also compared. Based on the comparing, an instruction is generated to modify an energy usage profile of said device to correlate with the energy usage rule associated with the devices and the energy management policy, thereby enabling efficient energy management.