Force Based Gesture Control of a Robotic Surgical Manipulator
AssigneeAsensus Surgical US, Inc.
InventorAlexander John Maret
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Abstract
A method of controlling a robotic arm in a surgical system comprises manually applying a force to a body of the robotic arm. Force information is received from ae force sensor on the robotic arm and a controller determines, using the force information, whether the force is a gesture force input. If the force is determined to be a gesture force input, the controller initiates electromechanical movement of the manipulator arm to a draping configuration, instrument attachment configuration, storage configuration, or home configuration.
Claims12
A surgical robotic system, comprising:
- a robotic manipulator arm configured for robotic positioning of a surgical instrument in a body cavity, the robotic manipulator arm including at least one force sensor;
- at least one user input device remote from the robotic arm;
- a robotic system controller responsive to input from the user input device to move the robotic manipulator during a surgical procedure;
- and
- a processor;
- wherein the force sensor is positioned to generate first force signals in response to gesture force input applied directly by a user to the body of the robotic manipulator and the robotic system controller is further responsive to said first force signals to cause movement of the manipulator arm to a predetermined pose or position;
- and
- wherein the force sensor is positioned to generate second force signals in response to forces exerted on the surgical instrument during movement of the surgical instrument in a body cavity, and wherein the processor is configured to provide haptic feedback signals to the user input device based on the second force signals during a surgical procedure.
A method of controlling a robotic arm, comprising:
- manually applying a force to a body of a robotic arm;
- receiving first force information from a force sensor on the robotic arm;
- determining, using the first force information, whether the force is a gesture force input;
- if the force is a gesture force input, initiating electromechanical movement of the manipulator arm to a predetermined pose or position;
- manipulating a user input device remote from the robotic arm to generate user input, and moving the robotic arm in response to the user input to manipulate a surgical instrument within a body cavity;
- and
- during the step of moving the robotic arm in response to the user input, receiving second force information from the force sensor and, providing haptic feedback signals to the user input device based on the second force information.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.