Aspects of a control system of a minimally invasive surgical apparatus

A surgical method including:

• generating a desired surgical instrument movement command signal comprising a desired surgical instrument velocity signal relative to a coordinate reference system;
• comparing the desired surgical instrument movement command signal with at least one preset surgical instrument movement limitation by comparing the desired surgical instrument velocity signal in joint space with at least one preset surgical instrument movement limitation in joint space in the form of a preset surgical instrument velocity limitation in joint space;
• restricting the desired surgical instrument movement command signal to yield a restricted surgical instrument movement command signal in response to the desired surgical instrument movement command signal transgressing the preset surgical instrument movement limitation, the restricting step including restricting the desired surgical instrument velocity signal in joint space to remain within a joint space velocity range extending between a minimum joint space velocity limit in an arbitrary negative direction and a maximum joint space velocity limit in an arbitrary positive direction in response to the desired surgical instrument velocity signal falling outside the range, to yield a resultant surgical instrument velocity signal in joint space;
• moving a surgical instrument in response to the restricted surgical instrument movement command signal;
• transforming the desired surgical instrument velocity signal relative to the coordinate reference system to a corresponding signal in joint space;
• and
• integrating the resultant surgical instrument velocity signal in joint space to yield a corresponding surgical instrument position signal in joint space.

A surgical method including:

• generating a desired surgical instrument movement command signal comprising a desired surgical instrument velocity signal relative to a coordinate reference system, the desired surgical instrument velocity signal relative to the coordinate reference system including signals corresponding to orientational movement of the surgical instrument and positional movement of the surgical instrument;
• transforming the desired surgical instrument velocity signal relative to the coordinate reference system into a corresponding velocity signal in joint space, while limiting the desired surgical instrument velocity signal to account for at least one singularity, the transforming step employing a conversion relationship that includes at least one term corresponding to the singularity
• modifying the term by replacing it with an appropriate function including that term;
• comparing the desired surgical instrument movement command signal with at least one preset surgical instrument movement limitation;
• restricting the desired surgical instrument movement command signal to yield a restricted surgical instrument movement command signal in response to the desired surgical instrument movement command signal transgressing the preset surgical instrument movement limitation;
• and
• moving a surgical instrument in response to the restricted surgical instrument movement command signal.

A surgical method including:

• generating a desired surgical instrument movement command signal comprising a desired surgical instrument velocity signal relative to a coordinate reference system, the desired surgical instrument velocity signal relative to the coordinate reference system including signals corresponding to orientational movement of the surgical instrument and positional movement of the surgical instrument;
• transforming the desired surgical instrument velocity signal relative to the coordinate reference system into a corresponding velocity signal in joint space;
• isolating joint space velocity signals corresponding to orientational movement after the transformation step;
• comparing the desired surgical instrument movement command signal with at least one preset surgical instrument movement limitation;
• restricting the desired surgical instrument movement command signal to yield a restricted surgical instrument movement command signal in response to the desired surgical instrument movement command signal transgressing the preset surgical instrument movement limitation;
• and
• moving a surgical instrument in response to the restricted surgical instrument movement command signal.