SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR UTILIZING AUGMENTED JACOBIAN TO CONTROL MANIPULATOR JOINT MOVEMENT

• US 20170273748A1
• Filed: 09/17/2015
• Published: 09/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. (Intuitive Surgical Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. (Intuitive Surgical Holdings, LLC)
• Inventors: Hourtash, Arjang M., Swarup, Nitish, Hingwe, Pushkar
• Granted Patent: US 10,327,855 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/30 Surgical robots
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/35 for telesurgery
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/74 Manipulators with manual electric input means
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/77 Manipulators with motion or force scaling
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1607 Calculation of inertia, jacobian matrixes and inverses
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1666 Avoiding collision or forbidden zones
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/45117 Medical, radio surgery manipulator
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/45123 Electrogoniometer, neuronavigator, medical robot used by surgeon to operate

Abstract

Devices, systems, and methods for providing commanded movement of an end effector of a manipulator while providing a desired movement of one or more joints of the manipulator. Methods include augmenting a Jacobian so that joint movements calculated from the Jacobian perform one or more auxiliary tasks and/or desired joint movements concurrent with commanded end effector movement, the one or more auxiliary tasks and/or desired joint movements extending into a null-space. The auxiliary tasks and desired joint movements include inhibiting movement of one or more joints, inhibiting collisions between adjacent manipulators or between a manipulator and a patient surface, commanded reconfiguration of one or more joints, or various other tasks or combinations thereof. Such joint movements may be provided using joint velocities calculated from the pseudo-inverse solution of the augmented Jacobian. Various configurations for systems utilizing such methods are provided herein.

Claims

1. A robotic method for a system comprising a first manipulator, the first manipulator including:

a movable distal end effector, a proximal portion coupled to a base, and a plurality of joints between the end effector and the base, the plurality of joints having sufficient degrees of freedom to allow a range of differing joint states for a given end effector state, the method comprising;

receiving a manipulation command to move the end effector with a desired end effector movement;

augmenting a Jacobian so as to provide one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements of the first manipulator;

calculating movements of the plurality of joints to effect the desired end effector movement by calculating joint velocities using the augmented Jacobian; and

driving the plurality of joints according to the calculated movements so as to effect the desired end effector movement concurrent with the one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements of the first manipulator.

2. The robotic method of claim 1, wherein the Jacobian is augmented according to a function associated with the one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements of the first manipulator.

3. The robotic method of claim 2, wherein the one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements of the first manipulator comprises the desired end effector movement, and wherein the Jacobian without augmentation is configured to pivot the first manipulator about a calculated pivotal center location, wherein the calculated pivotal center location is calculated so as to remain adjacent an aperture.

6. The robotic method of claim 1, wherein the one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements of the first manipulator comprise any of:

commanded end effector movement, joint motion cancellation, collision avoidance between adjacent manipulators or between a manipulator and a patient, commanded reconfiguration of one or more joints of the plurality of joints of the first manipulator, a pitch-null float feature, facilitated access to edges of Cartesian-coordinate space, emphasizing joint motion anisotropically.

12. The robotic method of claim 1, wherein the Jacobian is augmented according to a function or limitation that avoids movement of a subset of joints of the plurality of joints that are desired to be non-moving joints such that driving the plurality of joints according to the calculated movements effects the desired end effector movement while inhibiting movement of the subset of joints.

15. The robotic method of claim 1, wherein the one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements comprise collision avoidance, wherein the Jacobian is augmented based on a function relating to a proximity of the first manipulator to a second manipulator adjacent the first manipulator so that collisions between the first and second manipulators are inhibited as compared to joint movements of the first and second manipulators calculated with the Jacobian without augmentation.

16. The robotic method of claim 1, wherein the one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements comprise collision avoidance between the first manipulator and a second manipulator adjacent the first manipulator, the method further comprising:

determining a first reference geometry associated with the first manipulator and a second reference geometry associated with the second manipulator, the first and second reference geometries movable with the associated manipulator within a workspace and having ranges of motion that overlap within the workspace; and

determining a relative state between the first reference geometry and the second reference geometry in the workspace and a desired avoidance vector, wherein the Jacobian is augmented based on a function associated with the relative states between the first and second reference geometries.

18. The robotic method of claim 1, wherein the one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements comprise collision avoidance between a feature of the first manipulator and a patient surface, wherein augmenting the Jacobian comprises:

determining a relative position between the feature of the first manipulator and the patient surface; and

determining an avoidance vector of one or more joints that corresponds to maintaining sufficient clearance between the feature of the first manipulator and the patient surface.

20. The robotic method of claim 18, further comprising

determining an avoidance geometry corresponding to a movable position of the first manipulators;

and

determining an obstacle surface corresponding to a position of a patient tissue surface, wherein the avoidance vector is calculated so as to maintain a desired relationship between the avoidance geometry and the obstacle surface.

23. The robotic method of claim 1, wherein the one or more auxiliary functions or joint movements comprise commanded reconfiguration of one or more joints of the plurality, the method further comprising:

driving a first set of joints of the plurality of joints with a desired reconfiguration movement in response to a reconfiguration command;

calculating a reconfiguration vector of one or more of the joints of the plurality of joints in response to the reconfiguration command; and

augmenting the Jacobian according to a function relating the reconfiguration vector to calculated joint states so that the one or more joints move towards the reconfiguration vector in addition to the one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements when the plurality of joints is driven according to the augmented Jacobian.

26. The robotic method of claim 1, wherein the one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements comprise commanded reconfiguration of the first manipulator, the method further comprising:

receiving a reconfiguration command to move one or more joints of the plurality of joints according to a desired state;

wherein augmenting the Jacobian comprises augmenting the Jacobian so that the one or more joints correspond to the desired state and joint movements calculated according to the augmented Jacobian achieve the desired state of the one or more joints concurrent with the desired end effector movement in addition to the one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements.

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30. A tele-surgical system comprising:

a manipulator configured for tele-operatively moving a distal end effector relative to a proximal base, the manipulator having a plurality of joints between the distal end effector and a proximal portion coupled to the proximal base, the joints providing sufficient degrees of freedom to allow a range of joint states for a given state of the distal end effector;

an input device for receiving a manipulation command to move the end effector with a desired end effector movement; and

a processor coupling the input device to the manipulator, the processor configured to;

augment a Jacobian according to provide one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements of the manipulator;

calculate joint movements of the plurality of joints in response to the manipulation command by calculating joint velocities based on the augmented Jacobian; and

transmit a command to the manipulator to drive the plurality of joints according to the calculated joint movements so as to effect the desired end effector movement concurrent with the one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements.

31. The tele-surgical system of claim 30, wherein the processor is configured so that Jacobian is augmented according to a function or a state of one or more joints associated with the one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements of the manipulator.

32. The tele-surgical system of claim 30, wherein the one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements of the manipulator comprise pivoting an instrument of the end effector about a remote center, wherein the calculated joint movements are calculated so as to maintain the remote center at a calculated pivotal center location.

35. The tele-surgical system of claim 30, wherein the processor is configured such that the one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements of the manipulator comprises any of:

commanded end effector movement, joint motion cancellation, avoidance of joints limits or a singularity, collision avoidance between adjacent manipulators or between a manipulator and a patient, commanded reconfiguration of one or more joints of the plurality of joints of the manipulator, a pitch-null float feature, facilitated access to edges of Cartesian-coordinate space, emphasizing joint motion anisotropically or any combination thereof.

36. The tele-surgical system of claim 35, wherein the one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements of the manipulator comprise a plurality of differing auxiliary tasks or desired joint movements, and wherein the processor is further configured to:

combine or filter the plurality of differing auxiliary tasks or desired joint movements so that augmenting the Jacobian provides a desired movement that includes one or more of the plurality of differing auxiliary tasks or desired joint movements.

37. The tele-surgical system of claim 36, wherein the plurality of differing auxiliary tasks or desired joint movements is combined within the augmented Jacobian by weighting or scaling the plurality of differing auxiliary tasks or desired joint movements.

38. The tele-surgical system of claim 36, wherein the processor is further configured so as to combine or filter the plurality of differing auxiliary tasks or desired joint movements by, before augmenting the Jacobian, selecting one or more of the plurality of differing auxiliary tasks or desired joint movements according to a priority.

39. The tele-surgical system of claim 36, wherein the processor is further configured so as to combine or filter the plurality of differing auxiliary tasks or desired joint movements by, before augmenting the Jacobian, selecting one or more of the plurality of differing auxiliary tasks or desired joint movements based on a state of one or more joints of the plurality of joints.

43. The tele-surgical system of claim 30, wherein the processor is configured such that the one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements is based on an autonomous algorithm.

44. The tele-surgical system of claim 30 wherein the one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements comprise collision avoidance between the manipulator and a second manipulator adjacent the manipulator, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine a relative state between a first reference geometry associated with the manipulator in a work space and a second reference geometry associated with the second manipulator in the work space;

determine an avoidance vector that corresponds to a desired separation between the first and second reference geometries;

augment the Jacobian based on the avoidance vector such that the joint movements calculated using the augmented Jacobian moves the manipulator and the second manipulator towards or maintains the desired separation between the first and second reference geometries in the work space; and

drive the plurality of joints according to the calculated joint movements such that collisions between the manipulator and the second manipulator are inhibited as compared to joint movements calculated using the Jacobian without augmentation.

46. The tele-surgical system of claim 30, wherein the one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements comprise collision avoidance between a feature of the manipulator and a patient surface, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine a relative position between the feature of the manipulator and the patient surface, wherein the Jacobian is augmented based on the relative position of the manipulator to the patient surface.

47. The tele-surgical system of claim 46, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine an avoidance vector of one or more joints by use of the determined relative position, wherein the avoidance vector corresponds to maintaining a predetermined clearance between the feature of the manipulator and the patient surface sufficient to inhibit collisions during manipulator movement.

49. The tele-surgical system of claim 47, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine an avoidance geometry corresponding to a movable position of the manipulator; and

determine an obstacle surface corresponding to a position of a patient tissue surface, wherein the avoidance vector is calculated so as to maintain a desired relationship between the avoidance geometry and the obstacle surface.

50. The tele-surgical system of claim 49, wherein the plurality of joints is driven according to the joint movements in response to determining that the avoidance geometry is less than a desired minimum distance from the obstacle surface.

52. The tele-surgical system of claim 30, wherein the system further comprises:

a reconfiguration input device for receiving a reconfiguration command to move a first set of joints of the plurality of joints with a desired reconfiguration movement, wherein

the processor is further configured to drive the first set of joints according to the desired reconfiguration movement in response to the reconfiguration command; and

wherein

the processor is configured to augment the Jacobian by including commanded states of the first set of joints such that driving the plurality of joints according to the joint movements calculated with the augmented Jacobian effects the one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements of the manipulator concurrent with the desired end effector movement and reconfiguration of the first set of joints.

57. The tele-surgical system of claim 52, wherein the first set of joints comprises a subset of joints, wherein a first joint from the first set of joints couples the proximal portion to the base, the first joint comprising a revolute joint that supports a distal portion of the manipulator such that joint movement of the revolute joint pivots the distal portion of the manipulator about a pivotal axis of the revolute joint, wherein the pivotal axis extends from the revolute joint and through a remote center so that an insertion axis of the manipulator moves along a distally tapered cone oriented towards the remote center.

58. The tele-surgical system of claim 30, wherein a distal portion of the manipulator is coupled with an instrument holder configured to releasably support a surgical instrument having an elongate shaft extending distally to the end effector such that the elongate shaft pivots about a remote center during surgery, and wherein herein a plurality of the joints comprise remote spherical center joints disposed distally of the proximal portion and proximally of a distal portion of the manipulator, wherein the remote spherical center joints are mechanically constrained so that articulation of the remote spherical center joints pivot the distal portion of the manipulator about first, second, and third remote center axes, the first, second, and third remote center axes intersecting the remote center.

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61. A non-transitory computer program product having embedded therein executable instructions for a method for a system comprising a first manipulator, the first manipulator including:

a movable distal end effector, a proximal portion coupled to a base, and a plurality of joints between the end effector and the base, the plurality of joints having sufficient degrees of freedom to allow a range of differing joint states for a given end effector state, the method comprising;

receiving a manipulation command to move the end effector with a desired end effector movement;

augmenting a Jacobian so as to provide one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements of the first manipulator;

calculating movements of the plurality of joints to effect the desired end effector movement by calculating joint velocities using the augmented Jacobian; and

driving the plurality of joints according to the calculated movements so as to effect the desired end effector movement concurrent with the one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements of the first manipulator.

62. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 61, wherein the one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements of the first manipulator comprises the desired end effector movement, and wherein the Jacobian without augmentation is configured to pivot the first manipulator about a calculated pivotal center location, wherein the calculated pivotal center location is calculated so as to remain adjacent an aperture.

63. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 61, wherein the Jacobian is augmented according to a function or limitation that avoids movement of a subset of joints of the plurality of joints that are desired to be non-moving joints such that driving the plurality of joints according to the calculated movements effects the desired end effector movement while inhibiting movement of the subset of joints.

64. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 61, wherein the one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements comprise collision avoidance, wherein the Jacobian is augmented based on a function relating to a proximity of the first manipulator to a second manipulator adjacent the first manipulator so that collisions between the first and second manipulators are inhibited as compared to joint movements of the first and second manipulators calculated with the Jacobian without augmentation.

65. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 61, wherein the one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements comprise commanded reconfiguration of one or more joints of the plurality, the method further comprising:

driving a first set of joints of the plurality of joints with a desired reconfiguration movement in response to a reconfiguration command;

calculating a reconfiguration vector of one or more of the joints of the plurality of joints in response to the reconfiguration command; and

augmenting the Jacobian according to a function relating the reconfiguration vector to calculated joint states so that the one or more joints move towards the reconfiguration vector in addition to the one or more auxiliary functions or desired movements when the plurality of joints is driven according to the augmented Jacobian.