Control system for reducing internally generated frictional and inertial resistance to manual positioning of a surgical manipulator

A robotic surgical system comprising:

• a master manipulator;
• a slave manipulator having a plurality of jointed structures for providing multiple degrees of freedom movement to a surgical instrument when coupled to the slave manipulator, a plurality of motors to drive movement of the plurality of jointed structures, and a plurality of sensors to measure movement of corresponding of a plurality of joints of the plurality of jointed structures;
• a master/slave control system configured to control movement of the slave manipulator in response to manipulation of the master manipulator;
• at least one control system configured to generate a signal by processing measurements received from a corresponding one of the plurality of sensors to drive a corresponding one of the plurality of motors so as to reduce effects of internally generated frictional and inertial resistance when at least a portion of the slave manipulator is manually moved in order to position or orientate the surgical instrument at a surgical site within a patient;
• and
• a switch to engage the master/slave control system and disengage the at least one control system when the switch is in a first state and to disengage the master/slave control system and engage the at least one control system when the switch is in a second state.