Increasing mobility of computer-assisted systems while maintaining a partially constrained field of view

A method comprising:

• determining, by a processor system comprising one or more processors, a first commanded motion of a proximal repositionable structure;
• determining, by the processor system, a second commanded motion for one or more joints, the one or more joints selected from the group consisting of:
• joints of a first distal repositionable structure and an imaging device, the first distal repositionable structure being physically coupled to the proximal repositionable structure and the imaging device being supported by the first distal repositionable structure, wherein when the second commanded motion is performed in conjunction with the first commanded motion, a field of view of the imaging device is maintained relative to a workspace;
• determining, by the processor system, whether driving the one or more joints in accordance with the second commanded motion would cause the first distal repositionable structure or the imaging device to violate a first constraint;
• and
• in response to a determination that driving the one or more joints in accordance with the second commanded motion would cause the first distal repositionable structure or the imaging device to violate the first constraint:
• determining, by the processor system, an alternate second commanded motion for the one or more joints to maintain a defined geometric relationship between a first geometric feature and a second geometric feature, the first geometric feature fixed relative to the imaging device, and the second geometric feature fixed relative to the workspace,
• driving, by the processor system, the proximal repositionable structure in accordance with the first commanded motion, and
• driving, by the processor system, the one or more joints in accordance with the alternate second commanded motion.

One or more non-transitory machine-readable media comprising a plurality of machine-readable instructions which when executed by a processor system associated with a computer-assisted system are adapted to cause the processor system to perform a method comprising

• determining a first commanded motion of a proximal repositionable structure;
• determining a second commanded motion for one or more joints, the one or more joints selected from the group consisting of:
• joints of a first distal repositionable structure and an imaging device, the first distal repositionable structure being physically coupled to the proximal repositionable structure and the imaging device being supported by the first distal repositionable structure, wherein when the second commanded motion is performed in conjunction with the first commanded motion, a field of view of the imaging device is maintained relative to a workspace;
• determining whether driving the one or more joints in accordance with the second commanded motion would cause the first distal repositionable structure or the imaging device to violate a first constraint;
• and
• in response to a determination that driving the one or more joints in accordance with the second commanded motion would cause the first distal repositionable structure or the imaging device to violate the first constraint:
• determining an alternate second commanded motion for the one or more joints to maintain a defined geometric relationship between a first geometric feature and a second geometric feature, the first geometric feature fixed relative to the imaging device, and the second geometric feature fixed relative to the workspace,
• driving the proximal repositionable structure in accordance with the first commanded motion, and
• driving the one or more joints in accordance with the alternate second commanded motion.