Limited movement of a surgical mounting platform controlled by manual motion of robotic arms

A method of operating a system comprising a manipulating means, a first structural means supporting the manipulating means, and a second structural means supporting the first structural means, the method comprising:

• determining, by a processing means relative to the first structural means and in response to the system entering a first mode, a first position of a reference location at a time when the system enters the first mode, the reference location being associated with a linking means of the manipulating means supported by the first structural means;
• and
• while the system is in the first mode:
• detecting, by the processing means, a manual movement of the reference location that causes a first displacement of the reference location from the first position in a first direction and a second displacement of the reference location from the first position in a second direction, the second direction different from the first direction;
• calculating, by the processing means in response to detecting the manual movement and based on at least the first displacement, a motion of the second structural means that reduces the first displacement while not changing the second displacement by causing the first structural means to move relative to the reference location in the first direction;
• and
• commanding, by the processing means, the second structural means to move in accordance with the calculated motion.

A non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions which when executed by a processing means of a system are adapted to cause the processing means to perform a method comprising:

• determining, relative to a first structural means and in response to the system entering a first mode, a first position of a reference location at a time when the system enters the first mode, the reference location being associated with a linking means of a manipulating means, the first structural means supporting the manipulating means;
• and
• while the system is in the first mode:
• detecting a manual movement of the reference location that causes a first displacement of the reference location from the first position in a first direction and a second displacement of the reference location from the first position in a second direction, the second direction different from the first direction;
• calculating, in response to the detected manual movement and based on at least the first displacement, a motion of a second structural means that reduces the first displacement while not changing the second displacement by causing the first structural means to move relative to the reference location in the first direction, the second structural means supporting the first structural means;
• and
• commanding the second structural means to move in accordance with the calculated motion.