A substantially advance skill-set is a prerequisite in the domain of retinal surgery, given that the surgical instruments, constrained by small incisions made on the sclera, should be manipulated in a confined intraocular space. Therefore, robotic technologies with a snake-like architecture may be critical in retinal surgery to overcome this problem. These robots are expected to approach a target on the retina from a suitable direction when accessing its anterior portion for procedures such as vein cannulation or membrane peeling. Typical end-effectors or tools for retinal surgery include needles, light pipes, pipettes, and grippers. However, there are no retinal surgery robots or devices equipped with enough bending and grasping functionalities. We developed an Improved Integrated Robotic Intraocular Snake (I2RIS) in previous works. I2RIS has a user interface (a tactile switch or joystick unit) to provide maneuverability to the snake-like distal end. This study presents a new microgripper with its drive mechanism and an interface for retinal surgery; this microgripper is implemented into I2RIS. The proposed microgripper has a simple mechanism; it comprised only three parts, including a nitinol drive wire that functions as a flexible hinge. The microgripper diameter is 0.9 mm, and the length is 2.6 mm. A real-size prototype model was used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed microgripper. In addition, a pick-and-place task using an eye model was performed by I2RIS with the proposed microgripper. It is trusted that the utility of this microgripper can extend beyond retinal surgery into other microsurgical applications.

Retinal surgeons are required to manipulate multiple surgical instruments in a confined intraocular space, while the instruments are constrained at the small incisions made on the sclera. Furthermore, physiological hand tremor can affect the precision of the instrument motion. The Steady-Hand Eye Robot (SHER), developed in our previous study, enables tremor-free tool manipulation by employing a cooperative control scheme whereby the surgeon and robot can co-manipulate the surgical instruments. Although SHER enables precise and tremor-free manipulation of surgical tools, its straight and rigid structure imposes certain limitations, as it can only approach a target on the retina from one direction. As a result, the instrument could potentially collide with the eye lens when attempting to access the anterior portion of the retina. In addition, it can be difficult to approach a target on the retina from a suitable direction when accessing its anterior portion for procedures such as vein cannulation or membrane peeling. Snake-like robots offer greater dexterity and allow access to a target on the retina from suitable directions, depending on the clinical task at hand. In this study, we present an integrated, high-dexterity, cooperative robotic assistant for intraocular micromanipulation. This robotic assistant comprises an improved integrated robotic intraocular snake (I2RIS) with a user interface (a tactile switch or joystick unit) for the manipulation of the snake-like distal end and the SHER, with a detachable end-effector to which the I2RIS can be attached. The integrated system was evaluated through a set of experiments wherein subjects were requested to touch or insert into randomly-assigned targets. The results indicate that the high-dexterity robotic assistant can touch or insert the tip into the same target from multiple directions, with no significant increase in task completion time for either user interface.

In the case of conventional industrial robot systems, operators have to write robot-language programs for each type of workpiece. This is an onerous task, especially when each workpiece has a different shape. We propose a teaching-less robot system for the finishing of two-dimensional workpieces of various shapes and thicknesses using force control and computer vision. The robot system does not require shape information for the workpiece to be included in the CAD data or to be input by the operator. Each workpiece shape is acquired by segmenting edges into straight lines and circular arcs from the image data of the workpiece. The robot-language program for each workpiece is generated automatically from the workpiece shape data and finishing condition data. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by experiments using a newly developed robot system. In the system, the robot picks up a workpiece whose shape is not previously known on the workpiece stand by itself and carries out the finishing tasks using the automatically generated robot-language program. This method provides a compact and inexpensive finishing robot system which reduces the programming and workpiece-setting burden on the operators.

This paper presents a force controlled robot system for grinding, chamfering and polishing in machining plants. To facilitate easy operations, a task-oriented robot language and a force control method for following the edges of workpieces have been developed. In the task-oriented robot language, a task is declared first by a task name, a tool code and a tool center point. The tool center point is a position in contact with a workpiece. These indexes and the force control motion command determine the parameters for the force control of the robot. The workpieces for grinding, chamfering, and polishing almost always differ their setting positions, their sizes and/or their shapes, even when the workpieces are the same parts in a machine. To cope with the workpiece difference, a tool moment control method, a skip function, and a round function have been developed. Experiments on chamfering of the edges of a part in an injection molding machine are reported.

This paper describes the development of a windshield cleaning robot system (WSC). The WSC is intended to be used for Boeing 747 aircraft parked at airports prior to service. The objects to be cleaned are spots on the windshield caused by collision with dust, insects, and birds during takeoff and landing. The WSC was developed with the objective of realizing a system which could be operated by a single operator able to complete the work on one aircraft in 10 minutes. The WSC consists of the manipulator (the arm and the cleaning device), the installation unit, the control unit, and the operation unit. A position and force control method is applied to the WSC. The target position of the arm tip is modified by using the signals from the force sensor and the joystick. In accordance with this control method, the pressure force is kept constant and the tip is moved so as to follow the shape of the workpiece. The various safety features provided include an interference limit to limit the area of movement of the arm tip. System evaluation experiments were carried out and the effectiveness of applying a lightweight manipulator with long arms to this work was confirmed.>