Robotic surgical apparatus with positioning guide

A method of positioning a robotic surgical apparatus comprising a light ring including a plurality of light sources distributed 360 degrees about the light ring, the method comprising:

• defining a coordinate system representative of a procedural field having a reference point;
• defining a target location in the coordinate system representative of a target location in the procedural field;
• defining a first location of the robotic surgical apparatus in the coordinate system representative of a first location of the robotic surgical apparatus in the procedural field;
• calculating a directional vector from the first location of the robotic surgical apparatus in the coordinate system to the target location in the coordinate system;
• illuminating the light ring with a lighting configuration comprising an illuminated portion that points toward the target location in the procedural field along a direction from the first location of the robotic surgical apparatus in the procedural field toward the target location in the procedural field, the direction in the procedural field corresponding to the directional vector in the coordinate system;
• updating the lighting configuration to an updated lighting configuration in which an illuminated portion of the updated lighting configuration is larger than the illuminated portion of the lighting configuration, and in which the updated lighting configuration points in an updated direction from a second location of the robotic surgical apparatus in the procedural field toward the target location in the procedural field, the second location of the robotic surgical apparatus in the procedural field being closer to the target location in the procedural field than the first location of the robotic surgical apparatus in the procedural field, such that the updated lighting configuration also indicates that the second location of the robotic surgical apparatus in the procedural field is closer to the target location than the first location of the robotic surgical apparatus in the procedural field;
• and
• updating the updated lighting configuration to a target lighting configuration in which an illuminated portion of the target lighting configuration is larger than the illuminated portion of the updated lighting configuration such that the target lighting configuration provides an indication that the robotic surgical apparatus is positioned at the target location in the procedural field.