Analysis and Validation of a Teleoperated Surgical Parallel Continuum Manipulator
Andrew L. Orekhov, Caroline B. Black, John Till, Scotty Chung, D. Caleb Rucker
Abstract
In this letter, we present the design, kinematic analysis, model validation, and teleoperation of a miniature eight-degree-of-freedom (8-DOF) parallel continuum manipulator with a cable-driven grasper. Our motivation is to provide increased dexterity and stability in confined-space surgical applications, particularly for intraluminal endoscopic procedures. The system design uses six superelastic NiTi (Nitinol) tubes in a standard Stewart-Gough configuration and an integrated end effector that provides 180° articulation of two jaws actuated by Kevlar cables that pass through the tube legs. A computationally efficient inverse kinematics model provides real-time, low-level actuator commands to enable teleoperation. We provide a kinematic workspace analysis of this design, which depicts how mechanical strain, dexterity, and the effect of force application vary over the reachable workspace. We also experimentally characterize the open-loop model accuracy and repeatability of our physical prototype, obtaining mean errors of approximately 1.19 mm and 3.81° and a repeatability RMS error of 0.88 mm and 1.96°. Finally, we demonstrate the feasibility of minimally invasive surgical applications by conducting user trials for a pick-and-place task under unilateral model-based teleoperation.
BibTeX
@inproceedings{ral2016_analysisandvalid,
title = {Analysis and Validation of a Teleoperated Surgical Parallel Continuum Manipulator},
author = {Andrew L. Orekhov and Caroline B. Black and John Till and Scotty Chung and D. Caleb Rucker},
booktitle = {RA-L 2016},
year = {2016}
}