Systems and methods for controlling movement of a surgical tool along a predefined path class

A method for operating a robotic surgical system, the robotic surgical system comprising a surgical tool, a manipulator configured to support the surgical tool, and a force/torque sensor to measure forces and torques applied to the surgical tool, the method comprising the steps of:

• obtaining a tool path for the surgical tool, wherein the tool path is three-dimensional and pre-defined;
• receiving input from the force/torque sensor in response to user forces and torques manually applied to the surgical tool by a user;
• calculating a tangential component of force that is tangential to the tool path based on the input from the force/torque sensor;
• calculating an effective feed rate to advance the surgical tool along the tool path based on the calculated tangential component and by excluding normal components of force that are normal to the tool path;
• defining virtual constraints on movement of the surgical tool along the tool path with respect to three degrees of freedom and based on the effective feed rate to promote movement of the surgical tool along the tool path;
• simulating dynamics of the surgical tool in a virtual simulation based on the virtual constraints and the input from the force/torque sensor;
• and
• commanding the manipulator to advance the surgical tool along the tool path based on the virtual simulation.