Development of a spherical parallel manipulator as a haptic device for a tele-operation system: Application to robotic surgery

In tele-operation applications, especially in surgery, haptic devices need to exhibit a high degree of rigidity and accuracy. This paper deals with the development of a spherical parallel manipulator (SPM) that enables the satisfaction of those characteristics. The parallel architecture enables the use of this kind of robot as master in a tele-operation system. Moreover, the SPM has a center of rotation that makes it a natural candidate and more adapted to minimally invasive surgery application. However, the parallel manipulator presents a poor behavior in singular configuration.