The customer’s challenge SoLayTec is a TNO spin-off. SoLayTec’s production machine deploys a so-called spatial ALD processing technique, whereby solar wafers are transported back and forth in an air barrier field. During each pass, a single atomic layer is deposited. This is a true nano-tech application. Sioux's contribution Sioux developed the complete software suite for the SoLayTec production machine. This includes motion control, material logistics, machine control, algorithms, calibration, and the GUI. Result Succesfull commercial placements have been achieved. Technology Windows, C#, Model Driven Software Design, SuperModels, Beckhoff TwinCAT, EtherCAT and Expression blend.
The customer’s challenge In 2005 Nemo Healthcare started to develop a method for monitoring the condition of the unborn child by means of non-invasive electrophysiological recordings. From these recordings, which are performed on the abdomen of a pregnant woman, information is obtained both on mother and fetal heart activity and on uterine activity in a non-invasive and comfortable manner. Electrophysiological monitoring provides more accurate information than existing non-invasive monitoring technologies. Moreover, it delivers unique information that other methods cannot provide. Sioux's contribution Sioux developed the Nemo Fetal Monitoring System NFMS, containing two front-end headboxes and a base station. The headbox contains sensitive analogue electronics, an ADC, a microcontroller with embedded software and a Bluetooth Low Energy chip for wireless communication to the base station. In this base station, the fetal heart rate, the mother’s heart rate, and the mother’s uterine activity are extracted from the measured signals. The base station can be connected to different CTG monitors. Sioux assembles and tests the NFMS, fully in accordance with ISO 13485. Result Nemo Healthcare moved from a proof of concept to a product that has been CE-certified in 2019. Technology Amplifiers, filtering, 16 bit ADC, Bluetooth Low Energy, Fibre optics, ARM Cortex M3 microcontroller, Altium PCB layout, C, C++, Linux Yocto, QT, Sioux SCAP platform, Assembly and test.
The customer's challenge Lithography for advanced packaging is different from lithography for front-end wafer processing. The requirements involved are special and varying. The resist films range from thin to thick. Kulicke & Soffa developed the Liteq 500, a wafer stepper that is flexible and can effectively deal with all these variations and specific needs. Sioux's contribution Sioux designed, implemented, and tested the complete software stack for the Liteq 500, including: the user interface the control software for all devices, including the stage, the CCD camera, the illuminator, the beam stabilizer, the aerial image sensor, and the reticle robot the business logic for processing cells on a wafer, exchanging and aligning wafers, handling reticles, and executing metrology measurements with the projection lens and the CCD camera the mathematical algorithms for the metrology formal verification of the control software using ASD the firmware for Metrology Unit and the Illuminator Control Unit Result The first stepper is operational, commercial machines are now being sold. Technology Windows 8, Microsoft .NET 4.5, WCF, C#, 64 bit, ASD, ESP, STM32 and C++.
