Systems and methods for controlling tool with articulatable distal portion

A system comprising:

• a tool including a shaft having proximal and distal ends and an articulatable distal portion coupled to a distal end of the shaft;
• a processing unit including one or more processors, the processing unit configured to:
• providing a plurality of operation modes including a target tracking mode, a manual control mode, and an operator-steered mode;
• in response to an enabled target tracking mode and a request for transition from a first view direction associated with a first target to a second view direction associated with a second target, control a pose of the articulatable distal portion to direct the articulatable distal portion toward the second target,
• wherein orientations of images captured by an imaging device of the articulatable distal portion during the transition are maintained to be the same regarding a reference including a reference plane or a reference direction by controlling the pose of the articulatable distal portion,
• wherein a left-to-right order of features in the images is aligned with a first left-to-right reference direction of the reference;
• wherein the first left-to-right reference direction corresponds to a perspective of a first operator who is not controlling the shaft,
• wherein the first left-to-right reference direction is different from a second left-to-right reference direction corresponding to a second operator who is controlling the shaft;
• and
• in response to a disabled target tracking mode, stop controlling the pose of the articulatable distal portion to direct the articulatable distal portion toward the second target in response to a shaft movement.