A novel remote center of motion mechanism for the force-reflective master robot of haptic tele-surgery systems

BackgroundAn effective master robot for haptic tele-surgery applications needs to provide a solution for the inversed movements of the surgical tool, in addition to sufficient workspace and manipulability, with minimal moving inertia. MethodA novel 4+1-DOF mechanism was proposed, based on a triple parallelogram linkage, which provided a Remote Center of Motion (RCM) at the back of the user's hand. The kinematics of the robot was analyzed and a prototype was fabricated and evaluated by experimental tests. ResultsWith a RCM at the back of the user's hand the actuators far from the end effector, the robot could produce the sensation of hand-inside surgery with minimal moving inertia. The target workspace was achieved with an acceptable manipulability. The trajectory tracking experiments revealed small errors, due to backlash at the joints. ConclusionsThe proposed mechanism meets the basic requirements of an effective master robot for haptic tele-surgery applications. Copyright (c) 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.