How ASML uses augmented reality – Maintain chip machines with ar glasses
In recent months, many companies have only been able to keep their work going somewhat normally with acrobatics. ASML in Veldhoven is no exception. Like many companies, the maker of chip machines from Brabant struggled with issues related to working from home. ASML has more than 25,000 employees worldwide and the consequences were particularly great for the head office in Veldhoven, with more than 13,000 employees.
It is crucial for ASML that production continues. Each year, the company supplies several dozen chip machines of the latest EUV generation. A delay in delivery has consequences for the global chip market and therefore for the roadmaps of many tech companies. These are machines that cost more than one hundred million and consist of more than one hundred thousand parts. Continuing production is not only financially important for ASML itself, but also for the company’s hundreds of suppliers.
An empty ASML Campus
Lucky in an accident, production in Veldhoven partly takes place in cleanrooms. The requirements for preventing even the slightest pollution in those workspaces are stricter than the average corona measures and mean that the staff was already used to a clean way of working. The more than two thousand people who build the chip machines in the cleanrooms therefore belong to the group that continued to work at ASML, albeit in two teams that were not allowed to come into direct contact with each other.
Other technicians who work with complex technology also returned to work relatively quickly in the otherwise empty complex in Veldhoven. Measures have also been taken there that you see in many companies; arrows indicate one-way traffic, elevators are allowed to take a limited number of people and the number of desks where employees are allowed to sit has been reduced. The huge canteen of the ASML Campus, The Plaza with fifteen hundred seats and six different kitchens, was also abandoned due to closure. The vast majority of office workers work from home and the majority of meetings are conducted over the Internet.
Broadly speaking, ASML’s challenges do not differ much from those of other large organizations, but one very important part gave the company extra headaches: the installation and maintenance of the chip machines. “Service is critical,” says Peter Peusens, Head of Customer Support DUV Operations at ASML. “Customers are putting up billion-dollar fabs. A new ASML machine is on the critical path of producing the latest generation of chips. A few days of production delays set alarm bells off.” A minute of chip machine downtime can cost thousands of dollars, with a few days of inactivity potentially costing more than a million dollars.
Normally it is not that difficult to get technicians on site, but because of the corona measures, this became a huge obstacle for complex problems. “For some installation and maintenance issues, there are only a handful of real experts worldwide.” If ASML could get someone from that selection of experts on site, they would first have to be quarantined for two weeks, which would lead to further delays.
In addition, some customers requested ASML to speed up the delivery of the chip machines by shipping them before the usual factory acceptance tests had been completed. Manufacturers try to solve problems that arise themselves, but of course call in ASML’s help if they get stuck.
Experiments with Google Glass
Peter Peusens was therefore asked a few days after the cessation of air traffic from Europe to the US to set up a task force to look for possibilities for remote service provision. He has worked at ASML for fifteen years and in that time has built up a broad network in various sectors. “Colleagues also knew that I am interested in VR as a vision for the future. I then tried to bring many people together; sometimes we sat online with thirty people brainstorming about which technology and which connectivity to use.”
Thinking about VR and the use of remote servicing was completely newnot at ASML. The company already experimented with Google Glass five years ago and has been using VR headsets for training for some time. One of ASML’s largest R&D departments in the US is located in Wilton, Connecticut. In 2018, technician Thomas Weinlandt used a VR headset for design processes there on his own initiative. The commitment to customers was not an issue for a long time. “Security has always been a stumbling block. Customers are afraid of leaking intellectual property,” says Peusens. Where chip manufacturers normally do not allow pen and paper in the rooms where the ASML machines are, so to speak, headsets with a camera and microphone should now be used. “Because demand now came from customers, doors opened,
Due to the high stakes at stake, the core team had set itself a challenging deadline. “We wanted to complete our own pilot within a week and conduct a test at a customer a week later.” Epson’s Google Glass and Moverio AR glasses were rejected and the choice fell on the Microsoft HoloLens, because they had already done some preliminary work with these AR glasses in Wilton. “In addition, the traffic can go through the Microsoft network, which is positive from a security point of view and the desire for intellectual property protection.” First, the team had to investigate whether the HoloLens was cleanroom-proof. “For example, we had to make sure that the device does not cause interference. Even small influences, such as temperature fluctuations, can have an impact on the operation of the machines.”
Watch with the HoloLens
Peusens: “Once that was established, we carried out a test with the HoloLens in Veldhoven and at a customer in the US, which was immediately positive. In the US, it involved a session with the integration of Microsoft Teams, which included an expert in Wilton and a field engineerperformed a service action together on location. The technician in the field did not have all the experience and knowledge, but was still able to perform the action. A few weeks later in Taiwan, more than ten people were watching; experts from Veldhoven, in Wilton and at the customer watched an engineer in the cleanroom.” This way, the right experts from different parts of the world can watch and give instructions for a service operation on location in another part of the world. In addition to pooling knowledge, Peusens points out on the benefits for sustainability and the well-being of employees, who no longer have to fly halfway across the world.
ASML is not yet using the 3D rendering often seen in Microsoft’s promo videos. “We use the basic audio and video functionality for communication and real-time annotations. If a technician needs to turn a pallet with the HoloLens on at a machine, the remote expert can put a circle around it and tell them exactly where to turn and how much force they have to put in. We are still learning about the possibilities every day.”
According to Peusens, one of the few drawbacks that ASML encountered was the limited battery life and a customer also wanted to stick to using Zoom instead of Microsoft Teams. However, according to the project leader, the HoloLens has proven itself with its functionality. ASML received 25 AR headsets from Microsoft, but the company is scaling up deployment for installation and support. “The next step is to use images to show what the status of parts should be. The HoloLens also allows us to convert CAD drawings into 3D rendering.” The task force has since stopped and the use of augmented reality is in the project phase to introduce the headset on a larger scale. ASML will then provide the right training at all levels in order to be able to provide remote service at sixty sites worldwide.