Sensors for touch-free control of surgical robotic systems

A surgical robotic system comprising:

• a surgical robotic arm having a plurality of robotic arm links and a plurality of j oints operable to move according to multiple degrees of freedom;
• a proximity sensor coupled to the surgical robotic arm, the proximity sensor comprising a plurality of sensing pads, at least one of the sensing pads of the plurality of sensing pads having a triangular shape, and the plurality of sensing pads are operable to detect a movement of a nearby controlling object prior to contact with the surgical robotic arm;
• and
• a processor configured to determine a desired position of the surgical robotic arm based on the detected movement of the nearby controlling object and drive a movement of more than one of the plurality of robotic arm links or the plurality of j oints to achieve the desired position of the surgical robotic arm.