A transport vehicle includes: a traveler; a transferer that is mounted on the traveler and receives or delivers an article from or to a transfer destination; and an antenna that is provided so that at least the position or the posture thereof can be changed to follow the action of the transferer, and that performs wireless communication with another device.

A conveyor system for moving a plurality of targets is provided. The conveyor system includes at least one input group to input the target, at least one output group to output the target, and at least one bridge group to connect the input group with the output group. Each of the input group, the output group, and the bridge group includes a plurality of nodes having a size corresponding to a size of one target. The conveyor system further includes a control unit to align the target moving on the conveyor system.

A portable robotic semiconductor pod loader may detect, with at least one sensor, receipt of a semiconductor pod on a load port of the portable robotic semiconductor pod loader. The at least one sensor is supported by the load port. The portable robotic semiconductor pod loader may cause a robot, of the portable robotic semiconductor pod loader, to align with the semiconductor pod provided on the load port. The portable robotic semiconductor pod loader may cause the robot to attach to the semiconductor pod, and may cause the robot to provide the semiconductor pod from the load port to a staging area of a semiconductor processing tool.

A storage system includes an overhead stocker having a first overhead track, a rack including a plurality of storages arranged vertically, and a crane that travels along the first overhead track and delivers and receives an article to and from the storages; and an overhead transport vehicle system having a second overhead track provided below a lower end of the overhead stocker, and an overhead transport vehicle that travels along the second overhead track and delivers and receives an article to and from a predetermined transfer destination, wherein the first overhead track has an elevating track capable of supporting and lowering the crane that is stopped traveling at a portion deviated from the second overhead track in planar view.

A system and method for rail management of an overhead transport (“OHT”) system of an associated automated material handing system (“AMHS”) that includes a controller in communication with the OHT system, including vehicles traveling on rails of the OHT. The rail management system also includes a turntable located on a portion of the OHT and equipped with a set of fixed rails. Upon receipt of a request to rotate the turntable from a first run-through direction to a second run-through direction, the controller engages at least one stopper sensor located near the turntable. The controller then directs the turntable to rotate from the first run-through direction to the second run-through direction. After completion, the controller disengages the at least one stopper to enable vehicles to travel directly in the second run-through direction.

A traveling vehicle system includes a traveling track, a working track, a mover to move a traveling vehicle between a first position on the traveling track and the working track, and a transportation controller configured or programmed to control at least the traveling vehicle and the mover. The transportation controller is configured or programmed to transmit to the traveling vehicle a first command to travel to the first position and transmit to the mover a third command to move the traveling vehicle stopped at the first position to the working track after or simultaneously when transmitting to the traveling vehicle stopped at the first position a second command to lead a state in which the traveling vehicle is movable by the mover.

A mobile stocker described herein is configured to be easily installed and relocated to various locations in a semiconductor fabrication facility. The mobile stocker is capable of being programmed with, and/or autonomously learning, the layout of a semiconductor fabrication facility, and automatically relocating to a new location based on the layout using a navigation system. Accordingly, the mobile stocker is capable of being flexibly relocated in the semiconductor fabrication facility to dynamically support changes in demand and production capacity. Moreover, the capability to quickly assign a location identifier to the mobile stocker and to automatically interface with transport systems in the semiconductor fabrication facility reduces downtime of the mobile stocker, which increases productivity in the semiconductor fabrication facility.

A reference cost and a variable cost are included in a link cost for setting a set route for causing a setting vehicle to travel to a destination on a travelable route. A controller obtains an adjusted variable cost by adjusting a variable cost using a priority adjustment value set higher as a priority for arriving more quickly at a destination decreases, determines a link cost for each link in a candidate route, which is a candidate for a set route for a setting vehicle, based on the adjusted variable cost and the reference cost, obtains a route cost for each candidate route based on the link costs, and sets the set route based on the route costs of the candidate routes.

Article transport vehicles have, as operation states, a first state of traveling toward a transport destination that is a destination set for receiving an article or delivering an article, and a second state in which a transport destination has not been set. A controller divides the entirety of a travelable route into a plurality of set areas and executes imbalance reduction control to arrange standby transport vehicles such that imbalance of the densities of standby transport vehicles present in the areas is within a predetermined range, the standby transport vehicles being article transport vehicles in the second state.

A wafer processing apparatus may include a plurality of equipment front end modules (EFEMs), a wafer transfer chamber, a wafer processing chamber, and a wafer transfer arm. Each of the plurality of EFEMs may include an EFEM chamber, a plurality of load ports provided at a side of the EFEM chamber, and a load lock provided at a side of the EFEM chamber to overlap with at least one of the plurality of load ports in a vertical direction.