Robotic arm with five-bar spherical linkage
AssigneeIntuitive Surgical Operations, Inc.
InventorBruce M. Schena
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A robotic arm for a minimally invasive surgical system includes a parallel spherical five-bar linkage adapted to spherically rotationally move a robotic surgical tool coupled to the parallel five-bar spherical linkage about a remote center of spherical rotation. The five-bar spherical linkage is posed in only a range of compact poses. A compact pose is one in which a first pair of links and a second pair of links in the parallel five-bar spherical linkage have only a same handedness.
Claims12
A method for posing a robotic arm in a minimally invasive surgical system, the method comprising:
- coupling a robotic surgical tool to a parallel five-bar spherical linkage of the robotic arm;
- moving the robotic surgical tool about a remote center of spherical rotation;
- and
- posing the five-bar spherical linkage in only a range of compact poses in which the parallel five-bar spherical linkage maintain a first pair of links and a second pair of links in the parallel five-bar spherical linkage to have only a same handedness.
A method for posing a robotic arm that includes a parallel five-bar spherical linkage to spherically rotationally move a robotic surgical tool coupled to the parallel five-bar spherical linkage about a remote center of spherical rotation in a minimally invasive surgical system, the method comprising:
- pivotally coupling a first pair of links in the five-bar spherical linkage at a first intermediate joint;
- coupling a first end of the first pair of links to a first end of a ground link in the five-bar spherical linkage;
- pivotally coupling a second pair of links in the five-bar spherical linkage at a second intermediate joint;
- coupling a first end of the second pair of links to a second end of the ground link;
- pivotally coupling a second end of the first pair of links to a second end of the second pair of links to form an outboard joint;
- and
- posing the five-bar spherical linkage with the first intermediate joint on a predetermined side of a first plane that includes the remote center, the outboard joint, and the first end of the ground link, and with the second intermediate joint on the predetermined side of a second plane that includes the remote center, the outboard joint, and the second end of the ground link.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.