Experimental investigation of a distributed conveyance system using air flow

A noncontact manipulation is required in order to treat such objects as semiconductor wafers. This paper describes a conveyance system using an air flow to levitate and move the objects. It is also important to adapt the system construction for various designs of factory lines. This research employs the concept of distributed systems composed of many units. We have developed elemental units so as to arrange a conveyance system according to its design. A developed unit is 100 mm×100 mm×30 mm. Precise positioning by microdevice is also considered and investigated. This paper reports experimental investigation of the developed system