Medical device movement control apparatus

A medical device movement control apparatus comprising:

• at least one distance sensor;
• and
• a controller
• configured to receive a required location of the medical device;
• wherein the at least one distance sensor is configured to be mounted to a medical device or is configured to be integrated with the medical device;
• wherein the at least one distance sensor is configured to acquire distance data from the medical device for a plurality of angular directions about the medical device;
• wherein the at least one distance sensor is configured to provide the distance data for the plurality of angular directions about the medical device to the controller;
• wherein the controller is configured to control a movement system of the medical device to move the medical device from an initial location of the medical device to the required location along a route between the initial location and the required location that maintains a distance of at least a guard range distance between the medical device and one or more of objects comprising utilization of distance data for a subset of the plurality of angular directions acquired at a plurality of locations along the route;
• and
• wherein the controller is configured to control the movement system of the medical device to move the medical device away from an object if distance data for the object indicates that the object is closer to the medical device than the guard range distance comprising utilization of distance data for the plurality of angular directions about the medical device at one or more of the plurality of locations along the route.