With its KUKA wafer handling solution , Augsburg-based robot manufacturer KUKA has developed a mobile, fully automated transfer solution for the semiconductor industry that combines KUKA’s lightweight robot LBR iiwa with an automated guided vehicle (AGV) and specially adapted software that facilitates connection to a Manufacturing Execution System and integrates a fleet manager for automating and controlling transfer orders.

Designed for use in the clean room environment of silicon wafer processing, the robot moves autonomously and omnidirectionally. Its patented, newly developed gripper system is designed to enable the vibration-free transfer of wafer cassettes. The solution thereby meets the semiconductor industry’s growing requirement for new automation options to satisfy the demand for semiconductors, which is set to increase in the future.