System and method for variable velocity instrument

A method of operating an instrument for use with a computer-assisted device comprising one or more processors, the method comprising:

• transitioning, by the one or more processors, an instrument coupled to the computer-assisted device from a gripped state to a clamped state in response to receiving a clamp command;
• transitioning, by the one or more processors, the instrument from the clamped state to a firing state in response to receiving a fire command;
• transitioning, by the one or more processors, the instrument from the firing state to a pause state in response to detecting a stall in an actuator used to actuate the instrument;
• transitioning, by the one or more processors, the instrument from the pause state to a stop firing state in response to a pause limit being reached, the pause limit comprising a count of a number of pauses during operation of the instrument being above a predetermined number of pauses, a total duration of all pauses during the operation of the instrument being above a maximum pause duration, or the count of the number of pauses during the operation of the instrument being above the predetermined number of pauses and the total duration of all pauses during the operation of the instrument being above the maximum pause duration;
• and
• transitioning, by the one or more processors, the instrument from the pause state to the firing state in response to the instrument beginning to move again or after a first predetermined period of time has elapsed since entering the pause state.

A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising a plurality of machine-readable instructions which when executed by one or more processors associated with a computer-assisted device are adapted to cause the one or more processors to perform a method comprising:

• transitioning an instrument coupled to the computer-assisted device from a gripped state to a clamped state in response to receiving a clamp command;
• transitioning the instrument from the clamped state to a firing state in response to receiving a fire command;
• transitioning the instrument from the firing state to a pause state in response to detecting a stall in an actuator used to actuate the instrument;
• transitioning the instrument from the pause state to a stop firing state in response to a pause limit being reached, the pause limit comprising a count of a number of pauses during operation of the instrument being above a predetermined number of pauses, a total duration of all pauses during the operation of the instrument being above a maximum pause duration, or the count of the number of pauses during the operation of the instrument being above the predetermined number of pauses and the total duration of all pauses during the operation of the instrument being above the maximum pause duration;
• and
• transitioning the instrument from the pause state to the firing state in response to the instrument beginning to move again or after a first predetermined period of time has elapsed since entering the pause state.