Optimal scheduling of single-arm multi-cluster tools with two-space buffering modules

Fajun Yang, Naiqi Wu, Yan Qiao, Mengchu Zhou

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

A multi-cluster tool is composed of a number of single-cluster tools linked by buffering modules. The capacity of a buffering module can be one or two. Aiming at finding an optimal one-wafer cyclic schedule, this work explores the effect of two-space buffering modules on the performance of a multi-cluster tool. The tool is modeled by a kind of Petri nets. The dynamic behavior of robot waiting and tasks, process modules, and buffers is well captured by the net model. With the model, this work shows that there is always a one-wafer cyclic schedule that reaches the lower bound of the cycle time of a process-dominant tool. Furthermore, a constant-time algorithm is revealed to find such a schedule for the first time for such multi-cluster tools. An illustrative example is given to show the application and power of this new method.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number6899307
Pages (from-to)75-80
Number of pages6
JournalIEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering
Volume2014-January
DOIs
StatePublished - 2014
Event2014 IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering, CASE 2014 - Taipei, Taiwan, Province of China
Duration: Aug 18 2014Aug 22 2014

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Control and Systems Engineering
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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