Preliminary Evaluation of a Force-Sensing Human-Machine Interface for an Interactive Robotic System

In this paper the concept and first implementation of a robotic system for assistance during the milling in middle ear surgery is presented. Novel aspects of this system are the new force sensing approach, a parallel kinematic structure and the modified zero-force control scheme. In contrary to other force sensors the proposed approach only requires the position data delivered by a 6 d.o.f. position/orientation measurement system and properties of elastic objects. Because 6 d.o.f. position/orientation measurement systems are standard equipment in computer-aided surgery there is no need for additional sensors. The paper concludes with the experimental evaluation of the force control scheme and an accuracy analysis for the assisted milling