Master having redundant degrees of freedom
First Claim
1. An input device comprising:
- a base;
a handle manually movable with 6 degrees of freedom relative to the base;
a linkage coupling the handle to the base, the linkage having at least 7 degrees of freedom and including at least one driven joint;
a sensor system generating input signals in response to the manual movement of the handle; and
a drive system drivingly engaging the at least one driven joint so as to drive the linkage away from a motion-inhibiting configuration of the linkage during the manual movement of the handle.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An input device for robotic surgical techniques and other applications has a handle supported by a linkage with a redundant degree of freedom, the joints being movable with at least one more degree of freedom than the handle. At least one joint of the linkage is actively driven to prevent the linkage from approaching singularities of the joint system, motion limits of the joints, and also to drive the linkage toward a freely articulatable configuration. A robotic master controller can include an arm assembly supporting a gimbal having a redundant linkage, with the arm primarily positioning the gimbal in a three dimensional controller workspace and the gimbal coupling the arm to the handle with four rotational degrees of freedom. One or more additional degrees of freedom may also be provided for actuation of the handle, to close the jaws of a surgical grasper.
351 Citations
18 Claims
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1. An input device comprising:
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a base;
a handle manually movable with 6 degrees of freedom relative to the base;
a linkage coupling the handle to the base, the linkage having at least 7 degrees of freedom and including at least one driven joint;
a sensor system generating input signals in response to the manual movement of the handle; and
a drive system drivingly engaging the at least one driven joint so as to drive the linkage away from a motion-inhibiting configuration of the linkage during the manual movement of the handle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A master controller for a robotic surgical system, the master controller comprising:
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a platform;
a handle rotatable by a hand of a surgeon about three axes relative to the platform;
a linkage supporting the handle relative to the platform, the linkage having a joint system including at least one driven joint, the joint system defining four axes of rotation;
a sensor system coupled to the joint system to measure motion about at least one of the joint axes of rotation;
a drive system drivingly engaging the driven joint; and
a processor coupling the sensor system to the drive system so that the drive system actuates the driven joint, during the rotation of the handle by the hand of the surgeon, to avoid a motion-inhibited configuration of the joint system. - View Dependent Claims (5)
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6. A control system for use with a master controller of a robotic surgical system, the master controller comprising a linkage coupling a handle to a platform so that the handle can be manually rotated about three orientational axes, the linkage defining four axes of rotation, and a sensor system coupled to the linkage to measure articulation about the linkage axes of rotation, the control system comprising:
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a drive system drivingly engaging a driven joint of the linkage; and
a processor coupling the sensor system to the drive system so that the driven joint avoids a motion inhibiting configuration of the linkage during the manual rotation of the handle.
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7. A method for inputting instructions into a robotic system, the method comprising:
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manually moving a handle in a controller workspace so as to articulate a linkage defining at least one singularity; and
driving a joint of the linkage away from the at least one singularity in response to the manual movement of the handle so as to avoid inhibiting the manual movement of the handle adjacent the singularity.
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8. A method for inputting commands to effect movement of a robotic arm, the method comprising:
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manually moving a handle in a controller workspace, the handle coupled to a base by a linkage so that four joints of the linkage can rotate when the handle moves;
sensing articulation of the linkage when the handle moves;
driving at least one of the rotational joints when the handle moves in response to the sensed articulation of the linkage so as to enhance a range of motion of the handle in the controller workspace. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification