Optimal Remote Center-of-Motion Location for Robotics-Assisted Minimally-Invasive Surgery

A novel technique is described for isotropy-based kinematic optimization of specific robot characteristics. The new technique has advantages over existing techniques when designing robotic systems for specific, unconventional tasks, and for constrained motion. In this paper, the technique is used to assist in the selection of a remote center-of-motion (RCM) location for a research testbed that is being developed at CSTAR to study robotics-assisted minimally-invasive surgery. The optimization technique allows isotropy to be considered with respect to the surgical tool tip while operating under the RCM constraint. Global isotropy over a minimally-invasive surgical workspace is evaluated for a set of candidate RCM locations, and an optimal RCM location with respect to isotropy is selected. The isotropy results are compared with experimental data for a number of candidate RCM locations. The experimental results confirm the usefulness of the optimization technique.