Surgical Assistant Robot System - Teleoperation with Remote Center of Motion Control and Collision Avoidance

The video shows the simulation and experimental results for controlling a surgical assistant robotic system. The dual-arm robotic system is designed to assist the surgical assistant in performing laparoscopic tasks in robotic-assisted surgery from a command console instead of directly at the patient beside the primary surgical robot operated by the surgeon. This increases the safety and ergonomics of the surgical assistant's work by avoiding collisions with the surgical robot. For this purpose, the robotic surgical assistant system is equipped with redundant degrees of freedom to avoid collisions with the surgical robot while its instrument movements remain unaffected. We present a manipulator with 13 actuated joints controlled by a joystick with six degrees of freedom. The implemented MPC-based planning of evasive motions allows the avoidance of self-collisions, including the neighboring robotic arm and dynamic obstacles, as shown for simulations in the video. The self-developed remote center of motion (RCM) stabilization is demonstrated in simulation and real-world experiments on a robotic arm with 13 actuated joints. Teleoperation of the arm with a laparoscopic instrument on a torso dummy demonstrates the practical applicability of the developed robotic system and control approaches.