Software center and highly configurable robotic systems for surgery and other uses

A tele-surgical manipulator system comprising:

• a movable surgical instrument holder;
• a base;
• a manipulator comprising an arm assembly pivotally coupled to the base and pivotally coupled to the instrument holder, the arm assembly including:
• a first link,
• a second link,
• a pivotal arm joint coupling the first link to the second link to vary an angle between a longitudinal axis of the first link and a longitudinal axis of the second link around a pivotal axis, wherein the pivotal arm joint defines a joint apex, and
• a first roll joint between the base and pivotal arm joint, wherein the first roll joint has a first roll axis extending along the longitudinal axis of the first link;
• an instrument comprising a shaft having a first end, an opposite second end, an instrument interface coupled to the first end of the shaft, the instrument interface being mountable to the instrument holder, and an end effector coupled to the second end of the shaft;
• and
• a processor coupled to the manipulator and configured to determine a desired movement of the end effector within a surgical space as the shaft passes through a minimally invasive access site;
• wherein the processor includes a soft constraint configured to maintain the joint apex configuration oriented in a pre-determined direction determined so as to (i) inhibit collisions of the manipulator with an adjacent arm, adjacent equipment, or adjacent person and/or (ii) to avoid a joint limit or a singularity of a joint of the manipulator.

A tele-surgical system comprising:

• a surgical instrument having a proximal end, a distal end effector suitable for insertion into a patient, and a shaft extending between the proximal end and the distal end effector;
• a manipulator configured to support the proximal end of the instrument so as to move the instrument from outside the patient,
• the manipulator including an arm assembly pivotally coupled to a base and pivotally coupled to the surgical instrument, the arm assembly including:
• a first link,
• a second link,
• a pivotal arm joint coupling the first link to the second link to vary an angle between a longitudinal axis of the first link and a longitudinal axis of the second link, and
• a first roll joint between the base and pivotal arm joint, wherein the first roll joint has an arm roll axis extending along the longitudinal axis of the first link;
• the manipulator and instrument together having a plurality of driven joints, the plurality of driven joints providing sufficient degrees of freedom to allow a range of joint states for a position of the distal end effector while the shaft passes through an access site, the plurality of driven joints including the pivotal arm joint and the first roll joint;
• an input configured to receive a command to move the end effector according to a desired movement within a surgical workspace;
• and
• a processor coupling the input to the manipulator,
• the processor being configured to:
• determine first calculated movements of the plurality of driven joints in response to the received command to move the distal end effector according to the desired movement while the shaft of the instrument is within the access site,
• determine a desired movement of an intermediate portion of the arm assembly between the first roll joint and the instrument holder so as to (i) inhibit collisions between the manipulator and an adjacent arm, adjacent equipment, or adjacent personnel, and/or (ii) to increase a range of motion of the manipulator, and/or (iii) to avoid a joint limit or a singularity of a joint of the manipulator, and
• determine second calculated driven joint movements that include movement of the first roll joint to effect the desired movement of the intermediate portion of the arm assembly of the manipulator.

A tele-surgical manipulator system comprising:

• a manipulator having:
• a manipulator base;
• a first link having a proximal end, a distal end, and a first link axis between the proximal and distal ends of the first link, the proximal end of the first link being coupled to the manipulator base through a driven first joint, the first joint being configured to allow rotation of the first link axis about a first joint axis, the first joint axis being angularly offset from the first link axis;
• a second link having a proximal end, a distal end, and a second link axis between the proximal and distal ends of the second link, the proximal end of the second link being coupled to the distal end of the first link at a driven second joint configured to allow an angle between the second link axis and the first link axis to vary;
• a third link having a proximal end, a distal end, and a third link axis between the proximal and distal ends of the third link, the proximal end of the third link being coupled to the distal end of the second link at a driven third joint configured to allow rotation of the third link about the second link axis;
• a fourth link having a proximal end, a distal end, and a fourth link axis between the proximal and distal ends of the fourth link, the proximal end of the fourth link axis being coupled to the distal end of the third link at a driven fourth joint configured to allow changes to an angle between the third link axis and the fourth link axis;
• a fifth link having a first portion and a second portion, the first portion of the fifth link being coupled to the distal end of the fourth link at a driven fifth joint configured to allow rotation of the fifth link about the fourth link axis;
• and
• an instrument holder defining an instrument axis when an instrument is mounted in the instrument holder, wherein the instrument holder is coupled to the second portion of the fifth link at a driven sixth joint configured to allow changes to an angle of the instrument axis relative to the fourth link axis
• a processor coupled to the manipulator,
• the processor being configured to:
• determine movements of the driven joints in response to receiving an input of a movement command to effect a desired movement of the instrument while the instrument extends within the access site during the desired movement of the distal end effector,
• determine desired movement of an intermediate portion of the arm assembly between the first joint and the instrument holder so as to (i) inhibit collisions between the manipulator and an adjacent arm, adjacent equipment, or adjacent personnel, and/or (ii) to increase a range of motion of the manipulator, and/or (iii) to avoid a joint limit or a singularity of a joint of the manipulator, and
• determine calculated movements of the driven joints that include a movement of the first joint to effect the desired movement of the intermediate portion of the arm assembly of the manipulator.