Exploring human-robot cooperation possibilities for semiconductor manufacturing

This paper presents notions of a novel human-centered, integrated production system based on the intelligent cooperation between humans, robots and automation systems in the clean room context. In semiconductor manufacturing and in particular for short-term interactions with robotic systems like turn taking (an operator performs some work, hands over a lot box to the robot to perform some work and so on), it is still an open issue how the ideal relationship between the human and the intelligent (autonomous) system should look like. We present two case studies conducted together with Infineon Technologies Austria AG, with the overall aim to explore the interaction scope of operators and the cooperation potential of the robotic systems in the semiconductor manufacturing context.