A controlled material transport system (MTS) for carrying materials to and
from workstations, test equipment, and processing and assembly tools in a
common facility. The present invention includes a rigid robot vehicle
mountable to a passive track system, which can be routed to service all
processing tools on the factory floor. The robot vehicle includes a hoist
assembly and gripper assembly, which together perform such functions as
picking up magazines, placing magazines, and loading magazines into the
processing tools. The hoist assembly is capable of functioning in an
operational envelope, which includes any target location within a 3-axis
Cartesian coordinate system, to the extent of the range of motion of the
hoist assembly. The hoist assembly also provides rigid and controlled
z-axis travel, while being compact when retracted. The gripper assembly
facilitates loading of the magazines, especially chute style magazines,
which are commonly found on many existing processing tools.
