AccuDock Controller and Crossed roller-bearing kinematic mounts.
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Docking Capabilities - Increasingly, tool builders incorporate the "soft docking" capability of Electro-Damp^®. That is, Electro-Damp maintains the payload in a very narrow window during wafer exchange. However, some applications benefit from a conventional kinematic "hard dock."

TMC’s AccuDock™ Precision Docking System allows extremely accurate docking of air-isolated payloads for the loading/off-loading of wafers in inspection/fabrication equipment. The isolated portion of the payload remains floating and isolated until a TTL signal instructs the payload to “dock.” An adjustable volume of air is then vented from the isolators, gently lowering the payload onto a set of kinematic mounts. Off-payload wafer handlers are then positioned to within ± 0.001 inch in all degrees-of-freedom relative to the docked payload. After wafers are exchanged, the TTL signal can be switched, and the existing valving system is re-enabled. The payload is refloated (isolated), and the process can resume.