This paper describes a new calibration method for robot manipulators using a mobile TV camera and 3D digitizer. This method is motivated by the need of precisely calibrating a large work space without using special instruments or calibration fixtures. The method uses an innovative kinematic model of the robot-camera system, which permits one to combine, without loss of precision, measurements taken from different camera positions of different work volumes. The method includes algorithms for the selection of robot poses and kinematic parameter identification. Results of simulation tests of a surgical robot are presented.

This paper describes a PC-based controller for robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery. The development is motivated by the need of reducing the exposure of operating room personnel to X-rays during surgical procedures such as percutaneous discectomy. The approach taken consists of upgrading the hardware architecture and the control software of a clean-room PUMA 260 manipulator, and by developing a new vision-based operator interface. The original PUMA controller is interfaced to a PC for trajectory generation and force/torque data acquisition. Kinematic and communication functions are ported to the PC from the RCCL package. The operator interface is used for robot calibration and motion commands. In this implementation, the position control and force/torque data acquisition are executed every 28 ms, thus preserving the original robot performance. Preliminary tests have shown the validity of this approach and readiness of the system for more realistic experiments in the operating room.

Among several applications of robotics in medicine, robotic surgery represents one of the most promising scientific challenges for the research community. Its main expectations are to increase the quality of interventions, to decrease the intervention time and to reduce health care costs, by combining the analysis capabilities of imaging systems with the precision of robot manipulators. This paper introduces our surgical robotic system, describing in details the presurgical planning, surgeon-robot interface, matching between the virtual image and real robot workspace, safety considerations, knee implantation procedure, and experimental analysis about precision and errors.>