A 7-DOF haptics-enabled teleoperated robotic system: Kinematic modeling and experimental verification

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the development of a novel 7-degree-of-freedom teleoperated robotic system that provides force reflection to the surgeon´s hands while performing minimally invasive surgery and therapy (MIST). An endoscopic tool has been sensorized and modified for use as the end effector of this haptics-enabled system. In this paper, mathematical models required for controlling the main components of the system have been determined and experimentally validated. Several experiments have been performed with this MIST robotic system in order to compare its force exertion capabilities with those of the da Vinci system from Intuitive Surgical Inc. Force reflection from the slave to the master in the new system is also demonstrated experimentally.