Gripping of manipulators and related devices and systems

Abstract

A manipulator system includes a plurality of manipulator arms and a controller. Each manipulator arm of the plurality of manipulator arms includes a plurality of links coupled by one or more joints, the plurality of links of each manipulator arm including a distal link assembly including an instrument retention portion configured to be removably coupled with an instrument. The controller is configured to initiate a set grip mode of a set of manipulator arms, the set of manipulator arms including two or more of the plurality of manipulator arms. In the set grip mode, the controller drives the joints of the set of manipulators based on manual movement of one or more manipulator arms of the set of manipulator arms along at least one degree of freedom of motion and coordinates movement of a defined portion of each manipulator arm of the set of manipulator arms.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 477,865 (filed December 30, 2022), entitled “CLUTCHING OF MANIPULATORS AND RELATED DEVICES, SYSTEMS AND METHODS,” the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to manipulator systems. In particular, aspects of the present disclosure relate to controlling movement of a manipulator of a manipulator system, such as a medical manipulator system. Background Art

[0004] A computer-assisted manipulator system ("manipulator system") (sometimes referred to as a robot-assisted system or robotic system) may include one or more manipulator arms that can be operated with the assistance of an electronic controller (e.g., a computer) to move and control the functions of one or more instruments coupled to the manipulator by actuating an output drive of the manipulator and a corresponding input drive of the instrument. A manipulator arm (also referred to herein as a manipulator) typically includes mechanical linkages connected by joints. The instrument is removably coupled to (or permanently coupled to) one of the links (typically a distal link of a plurality of links). The manipulator is attached to a manipulator support structure, such as a table for supporting a patient or workpiece (e.g., an operating table), a mobile cart that is separate from and can be placed near such a table, or some other support structure. A manipulator system that has its manipulator coupled to a table may be referred to herein as a table-mounted manipulator system.

[0005] The joints of the manipulator arm can include revolute joints that provide relative rotation between the links and / or prismatic joints that provide relative translation between the links. In some systems, at least some of the joints of the manipulator are powered joints. Powered joints include actuators (e.g., motors, hydraulic actuators, or other actuators) that can be driven by an electronic controller to cause movement around or along the joint. The joints can also include brakes that can resist or prevent movement around or along the joint. The actuators and / or brakes of the manipulator's powered joints can be driven and controlled by the system's electronic controller. The electronic controller can control the actuators to move the manipulator around the joints based on user input and / or based on logic programmed into the electronic controller. For example, the manipulator system can include an input system having input devices (e.g., joysticks, buttons, or other inputs) that a user can actuate to provide input to the electronic controller. For example, such input devices can be provided at a console. User input can also be provided to the electronic controller in other ways, such as by the user directly applying force to the manipulator during grasping movements, as described in more detail below. The electronic controller includes logic programmed therein that allows the controller to interpret these user inputs and, in response, generate appropriate drive signals based on the user inputs to cause movement of the manipulator and / or instrument coupled thereto. In addition, the electronic controller can automatically control certain movements of the manipulator based on preprogrammed routines without necessarily following direct user input, such as for reconfiguring the manipulator from a stowed position to a deployed position ready for use. The manipulator can be in the stowed position for storage and / or transport. Examples of the stowed orientation include an orientation in which the manipulators are individually and collectively compacted and stowed beneath the operating table in a table-mounted manipulator system, and an orientation in which the manipulators are compacted and stowed on or in a portion of a cart in a cart-based system. Examples of deployed orientations include orientations in which the manipulators are relatively in an extended configuration (e.g., the links are relatively extended relative to the joints to which they are connected) and positioned along a axis in which they can be accessed for instrument mounting and / or holding instruments for a medical procedure occurring on a body on an operating table.

[0006] In some systems, the patient-side user can also manually move the manipulator without actuating the input device at the input system's console. For example, in some systems, the manipulator can be set to its initial position for a procedure at least in part by the user manually moving the manipulator. Manually moving the manipulator means that the patient-side user grasps and directly applies force to the manipulator to cause it to move. This manual movement of the manipulator may be required in some cases, for example, because the electronic controller may not be able to automatically position the manipulator in a given environment. For example, due to the varying size and shape of the patient, as well as the patient's precise position relative to the operating table, the electronic controller in some systems may not know the precise location of the access ports in the patient's body relative to the operating table, and therefore the controller may not know where to deploy the manipulator to allow the manipulator to dock with those access ports (docking a manipulator with an access port refers to engaging the manipulator and / or an instrument or other device carried by or mounted to the manipulator with the cannula of the access port; for example, in the docked state, the cannula holder of the instrument holding portion of the manipulator can engage with the cannula, and the instrument shaft of the instrument carried by the instrument holding portion can be inserted through the cannula). Thus, the patient-side user may need to manually place the manipulator (e.g., from an initial deployment orientation completed by a controller) to achieve docking of the manipulator with the patient's access port. Furthermore, in some cases, manual movement of the manipulator is used for placement during certain portions of the case, rather than using an input device at the console, because in some systems, the console's input device cannot control the joints that need to be moved. For example, in some systems, the console's input device may control only fine movement of the distal end of the manipulator (e.g., insertion / removal of an instrument and / or movement of an instrument end effector), and not gross movement of the manipulator as a whole (e.g., movement around the more proximal joints of the manipulator). Furthermore, even in systems where the input device can control the joint around which movement is desired, it may still be desirable to manually move the manipulator in some situations because performing the manual movement may be easier or faster than using the input device.

[0007] This manual movement of the manipulator can be facilitated by a gripping state of the manipulator, which allows for a clutching motion of the manipulator. Clutching motion, or clutching, refers to the system controlling the powered actuators and brakes of at least one powered joint of the manipulator to allow the user to manually move the manipulator about that joint or joints. Clutching does not necessarily mean that the manipulator's powered joints are completely de-energized or completely free to move. Instead, in some cases, a gripping motion can include the controller actively actuating at least some of the manipulator's powered joints to support the weight of the manipulator's various links, while also allowing at least certain defined portions of the manipulator to move substantially in response to user-supplied force. Thus, in these examples, the manipulators can behave as if they were free-floating. Furthermore, in some cases, gripping may include not only supporting the manipulator's weight but also actuating the powered joints to actively assist the user in moving the manipulator. In such cases, the controller can sense the force the user is applying to the manipulator, and based on this, the electronic controller can infer the direction the user is attempting to move the manipulator, thereby allowing the controller to actuate the actuators to follow and / or assist the user in that movement. Thus, during grasping movements, the user directs the movement of the manipulator and provides at least some of the force that moves the manipulator, but the system can also actively drive the powered joints to some extent to facilitate this manual movement. Summary of the Invention

[0008] Various embodiments of the present disclosure may solve one or more of the above problems and / or may exhibit one or more of the above desirable features. Other features and / or advantages may become apparent from the following description.

[0009] According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, a manipulator system includes a plurality of manipulator arms and a controller. Each manipulator arm in the plurality of manipulator arms includes a plurality of links coupled by one or more joints, the plurality of links of each manipulator arm including a distal link assembly, the distal link assembly including an instrument holding portion, the instrument holding portion being configured to be removably coupled to an instrument. The controller is configured to initiate a group grasping mode of a group of manipulator arms, the group of manipulator arms including two or more of the plurality of manipulator arms. When in the group grasping mode, the controller drives the joints of the group of manipulator arms based on manual movement of one or more manipulator arms in the group along at least one degree of freedom of motion, and coordinates the movement of a defined portion of each manipulator arm in the group of manipulator arms.

[0010] According to at least one other embodiment of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores instructions executable by a processor of a manipulator system including a plurality of manipulator arms to cause the processor to initiate a group grasping mode for a group of two or more manipulator arms from the plurality of manipulator arms. The instructions further cause the processor to, while in the group grasping mode, actuate joints of the group of manipulator arms based on manual movement of one or more manipulator arms in the group along at least one degree of freedom of motion, and coordinate movement of a defined portion of each manipulator arm in the group of manipulator arms.

[0011] According to at least one other embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of controlling a manipulator system includes initiating a group grasping mode for a group of manipulator arms, the group of manipulator arms comprising two or more of a plurality of manipulator arms in the manipulator system. The method further includes, while in the group grasping mode, actuating joints of the group of manipulator arms based on manual movement of one or more manipulator arms in the group along at least one degree of freedom of motion, and coordinating movement of a defined portion of each manipulator arm in the group.

[0012] According to at least one other embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for positioning manipulator arms of a manipulator system includes indicating to a controller of the manipulator system a request for a group of grasping motions. The method further includes moving the group of manipulator arms together as a group by manually applying a force to one or more of the manipulator arms, wherein movement is coordinated between defined portions of each manipulator arm of the group, wherein the group of manipulator arms includes at least one manipulator arm to which no force is manually applied. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] The present disclosure may be used alone or in conjunction with the accompanying Figure 1 The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure and are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification. The accompanying drawings illustrate one or more embodiments of the present teachings and together with the description explain certain principles and operations. In the drawings:

[0014] Figure 1 is a schematic side view of an embodiment of a table-mounted manipulator system in a first state.

[0015] Figure 2 It is in the second state Figure 1 Schematic side view of the table-mounted manipulator system.

[0016] Figure 3 It is in the third state Figure 1 Schematic front view of the table-mounted manipulator system.

[0017] Figure 4 It is in the fourth state Figure 1 Schematic front view of the table-mounted manipulator system.

[0018] Figure 5 It is in the fifth state Figure 1 Schematic front view of the table-mounted manipulator system.

[0019] Figure 6 It is in the sixth state Figure 1 Schematic top view of the table-mounted manipulator system.

[0020] Figure 7 It is in the seventh state Figure 1 Schematic top view of the table-mounted manipulator system.

[0021] Figure 8 It is in the eighth state Figure 1 Schematic top view of the table-mounted manipulator system.

[0022] Figure 9 It is in the ninth state Figure 1 Schematic top view of the table-mounted manipulator system.

[0023] Figure 10 It is in the second state Figure 1 Schematic top view of the table-mounted manipulator system.

[0024] Figure 11 It is in the tenth state Figure 1 Schematic top view of the table-mounted manipulator system.

[0025] Figure 12 It is in the second state Figure 1 Schematic rear view of the table-mounted manipulator system.

[0026] Figure 13 It is in the tenth state Figure 1 Schematic rear view of the table-mounted manipulator system.

[0027] Figure 14 It is in the eleventh state Figure 1 Schematic rear view of the table-mounted manipulator system.

[0028] Figure 15 is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method of controlling a manipulator in a group grasping motion.

[0029] Figure 16 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of an electronic controller for a manipulator system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] In a system that includes multiple manipulators, manually moving each manipulator into a desired posture can sometimes be a slow and / or complicated process. For example, in some cases, particularly in table-mounted manipulator systems, but also in cart-based systems, the manipulators may need to be placed in a relatively complex arrangement (e.g., with some manipulators passing through other manipulators and / or from one side of the operating table to the opposite side) so that the instruments carried thereon can be aligned with access ports in the patient's body and / or maintain sufficient safety margins between the arms, the patient, or other obstacles during the surgical procedure. Moving the manipulators into appropriate placement in such an arrangement can be challenging. Furthermore, placing these manipulators in such a complex arrangement can take some time. As another example, before or after a procedure, it may be desirable to move all of the manipulators of a table-mounted manipulator system to one end of an operating table (e.g., for removing a sterile drape and / or other pre- or post-operative preparations therefrom), but because some manipulators may be coupled to one side of the operating table and other manipulators to the opposite side, the user may need to make multiple trips along both sides of the operating table and / or around both ends of the operating table to manually move all of the manipulators, which requires time and effort. As another example, positioning the manipulators of a table-mounted manipulator system relative to each other so that they can be draped with a sterile drape before a procedure or uncovered after a procedure (e.g., to separate the manipulators to make room to access the manipulators, raise or lower the manipulators, or other desired orientation adjustments) may likewise require the user to manually move each of these manipulators, which again requires time and effort. Similarly, in a cart-based manipulator system, it may be desirable to position the manipulators for draping or other pre- or post-operative actions, and such positioning may require the user to make many manual movements of the individual manipulators, which may be time consuming and difficult. Therefore, it may be desirable to reduce the complexity and time spent manually moving manipulators. In particular, in medical procedure environments, time is often of the essence, so reducing the time spent moving manipulators before or after a procedure may be particularly beneficial in such environments.

[0031] Therefore, in systems comprising multiple manipulators, there is a need for improved manual (grasping) movement of the manipulators.

[0032] To address the above challenges, various embodiments disclosed herein contemplate manipulator systems configured to provide one or more group grasping modes that allow group grasping motion of a defined group of manipulators (in some cases, all manipulators; in other cases, a subset thereof) of the manipulator system. As used herein, group grasping motion or group grasping refers to driving a group of manipulators so that the manipulators can move together as a group when one or more manipulators of the group are manually moved by a controller that coordinates the motion of a defined portion of the manipulators. The defined portion can include, for example, an instrument holding portion, a point on the manipulator or a point defined relative to the manipulator (e.g., a point at the tip of an instrument shaft carried by the manipulator, a remote motion center point defined for the manipulator, or some other point), a collection of joints or points, a link or a collection of links, or any other defined portion. In a group grasping motion, a user grasps at least one (in some cases, two) manipulators and places the grasped manipulators into a grasping state that allows the user to manually move the defined portion of the manipulator with the assistance of the controller and subject to certain constraints. In addition, the remaining manipulators (e.g., manipulators not grasped by the user) in the group (if any) are actively controlled by the system to follow the lead of the grasped manipulator so that the defined parts of all manipulators in the group move together as a group with the coordinated motion of the defined parts. As used herein, the coordinated motion of the defined parts of the group of manipulators refers to that the defined parts are controlled by the controller to maintain a defined spatial relationship relative to each other while following the manual motion applied by the user. Grasping as used herein generally refers to any contact (directly or via an intermediary (such as via a tool, a drape or other intermediary)) between the user and the manipulator, which allows the user to manually apply a force to the manipulator, but does not require any specific form of such contact. During group grasping, the user causes the group of manipulators to move by manually applying a force to one or more manipulators of the group, which can be referred to as the user manually moving the group of manipulators in this article, because although the user may only directly apply a force to some members of the group, the motion of the manipulators of the entire group is caused and guided by the force manually applied by the user.

[0033] As described above, in group grasping mode, the grasped manipulators are gripped, meaning that the powered joints of these manipulators are driven by an electronic controller so that at least a defined portion (e.g., the instrument-holding portion of the manipulator) is free-floating and manually movable by the user. That is, the defined portion is supported against gravity, but the instrument-holding portion is movable in at least one degree of freedom of motion (in some cases, all degrees of freedom of motion) in response to a user manually applying force to the manipulator. In some cases, in addition to supporting the weight of the manipulator, the system may also actively assist in the motion of the grasped manipulator(s), for example by sensing the force applied by the user, inferring the direction of the intended motion, and actuating some or all joints to assist in that motion. The gripping of these grasped manipulators does not necessarily mean that the manipulators have unconstrained motion. As described above, group grasping motion involves coordinated motion of defined portions, or in other words, maintaining defined spatial relationships between the defined portions of the manipulators. In some cases, this coordination may include constraining the motion of the grasped manipulator (and other manipulators in the group) to prevent certain motions that would result in deviations from the defined spatial relationships (even if the user attempts to manually induce such motion). For example, in some modes (e.g., the first mode described below), the controller may prevent two grasped manipulators from moving apart from each other, and thus the controller may actuate the joints so as to prevent the user from manually causing the manipulators to move apart, even if the user is applying forces to the manipulators that would otherwise cause such motion if unconstrained. Thus, reference to grasped manipulators being grasped or free-floating does not imply that all of their motion is completely unconstrained. In addition to constraining the motion of manipulators relative to each other to maintain a defined spatial relationship, the motion of manipulators may also be constrained for other reasons, such as avoiding collisions, preventing manipulators from moving outside their range of motion, and / or enforcing other constraints.

[0034] Group gripping of manipulators as described herein is different from moving multiple individually gripped manipulators simultaneously in at least two ways. First, with group gripping, manipulators that are not gripped and directly manipulated by the user can move together with manipulators that are gripped and manipulated by the user. In contrast, when individually gripped manipulators are manually moved, only those manipulators that the user is currently gripping and manually moving will move. Second, with group gripping, although the user manually guides the motion of the group as a whole, the controller coordinates the movement of the manipulators in the group relative to each other (including driving the motion of the manipulators to maintain defined spatial relationships). In contrast, for individually gripped manipulators, the user guides each gripped manipulator individually, and the motion of the manipulators relative to each other is not coordinated by the system, or is not driven to maintain any specific relationship relative to each other (although the system can control some motions of the individually gripped manipulators, such as to avoid collisions or enforce other safety constraints). In other words, for individually gripped manipulators, the motion of the manipulators is essentially independent of each other.

[0035] The manipulator system can have one or more different group grip modes that provide different types of coordinated motion, or in other different modes, the controller maintains different types of defined spatial relationships during the group grip motion. For example, in a first group grip mode, the defined spatial relationships maintained by the controller include fixed spatial relationships (i.e., fixed relative poses) between the defined parts of the manipulators. In other words, in the first mode, the active joints of the manipulators in the group (both the gripped and unclawed manipulators) are driven so that the defined parts (e.g., the instrument holding parts) behave as if they are rigidly coupled together. Thus, while the user can relatively freely move the defined parts of the manipulators as a group around the workspace (e.g., relative to the operating table), the controller constrains the motion of the individual manipulators so that the same spatial relationship of the defined parts relative to each other is maintained throughout the movement (e.g., the spatial relationship that existed when the group grip mode was activated). However, other parts of the manipulators can change their poses relative to each other as needed during the group grip motion to facilitate the motion of the defined parts and achieve other desired goals, such as optimizing manipulator poses, reducing the chance of collision, or other goals.

[0036] The first group gripping mode can allow a user to manually reposition multiple (and in some cases, all) manipulators more quickly than manually moving the manipulators individually, because the user's manipulation of one or two manipulators can move all manipulators in the group. Furthermore, the first group gripping mode can make certain relatively complex arrangements of manipulators easier to implement. For example, as described above, placing the manipulators of a table-mounted manipulator system in a complex arrangement that may be required for certain procedures can be relatively challenging. In particular, as described above, due to the variability of port placement (e.g., because the patient's body shape, size, and position relative to the operating table may vary), the controller may not be able to directly place the manipulator into the posture required to dock the instrument held by the manipulator with the access port. However, in embodiments disclosed herein, the user can use a group gripping motion in the first mode to manually move the manipulator to align and dock with the access port in the patient's body. Because the group gripping motion in the first mode maintains the spatial relationship of the defined parts (e.g., the instrument holding part), when the user manually moves the manipulator into a position near the patient, the complex arrangement initially defined by the controller is maintained, so the user does not need to worry about getting the manipulator correctly positioned. In contrast, without the group gripping motion, even if the controller automatically arranges the manipulators into the initial deployment orientation, when the time comes for the user to manually move the manipulators into position for docking with the patient, the user will have to move the manipulators one at a time, and the user may have difficulty getting the manipulators into the desired alignment relative to each other. Not only is it somewhat difficult to manually perform the precise placement of the manipulators, but in some cases, if the manipulators are not moved in the correct order and in the correct manner, the manipulators may collide with each other or otherwise fail to be placed into the preferred arrangement. Furthermore, even if the user is able to achieve the desired arrangement, doing so will take significantly longer than it would have taken using the group gripping motion. Therefore, the first mode of the group gripping motion greatly simplifies the process of arranging the manipulators, which could otherwise be complex, and also saves time by allowing all the manipulators to move together.

[0037] As another example, in the second set of gripping modes, the defined spatial relationships maintained by the controller include variable spatial relationships based on coordinated movement. Although the spatial relationship is variable in this mode, it is still defined because the spatial relationship is determined based on a set of predefined rules based on coordinated movement. For example, in some embodiments, the variable spatial relationship maintained in the second set of gripping modes includes moving a subset of the set of manipulators in an anti-coordinated (e.g., mirrored) manner along one or more degrees of freedom of motion relative to another subset of the set of manipulators. For example, in some embodiments, manipulators on one lateral side of the system's longitudinal centerline (e.g., manipulators coupled to one side of an operating table in a table-mounted system) can form one subset of the set, and manipulators on the other lateral side of the longitudinal centerline (e.g., manipulators coupled to the other side of the operating table) can form another subset of the set, and these subsets can be controlled to move relative to each other in an anti-coordinated manner in the lateral degree of freedom of motion. (The lateral and longitudinal dimensions correspond to orthogonal dimensions of the operating table or patient-side cart). In some embodiments, the movement of manipulators in other directions can be coordinated in other ways, such as by maintaining fixed relationships in other degrees of freedom. In other words, in these examples, the manipulators' movements are mirrored, for example, about the system's longitudinal centerline (more precisely, about a plane containing the longitudinal centerline and perpendicular to the transverse dimension). Thus, for example, if a first manipulator on one side of the centerline is moved laterally relative to the centerline by the user in one direction, the controller will drive the other manipulators on the same side of the centerline to move in the same direction as the first manipulator, and the controller will drive the manipulators on the other side of the centerline to move in a transverse direction opposite to the direction of the first manipulator. For example, in a second group gripping mode using mirrored motion, if the user pulls the first manipulator away from the centerline of the operating table, the other manipulators in the group on the same side of the operating table will also pull back in the same direction. Conversely, the manipulators in the group on the opposite side of the operating table will move away from the centerline in a direction opposite to the first manipulator (rather than following the first manipulator). Similarly, if the user pushes the first manipulator toward the centerline of the operating table, the other manipulators in the group on the same side of the operating table will also move in the same direction toward the centerline. In this mode, the manipulators in the group on the opposite side of the operating table will move toward the centerline by moving in the opposite direction of the first manipulator (rather than moving away from the first manipulator). Continuing with the previous example, if the user moves the first manipulator in some other degree of freedom besides the lateral motion, all other manipulators (on either side of the centerline) will be driven to follow this motion in the same direction. Thus, in this example, the manipulators move in a coordinated manner in degrees of freedom except for the lateral motion, and in an anti-coordinated manner for the lateral motion.Although the above describes contralateral motion in a single degree of freedom (e.g., mirrored about a single plane), in other embodiments, contralateral motion can be used with multiple degrees of freedom (e.g., mirrored about multiple planes). Furthermore, degrees of freedom other than the lateral degree of freedom can be used as the degree of freedom around which contralateral motion is used.

[0038] A second set of gripping modes can allow the manipulators to transition from a state in which the manipulators are clustered together around a centerline to a state in which the manipulators are separated in a lateral direction, or vice versa. For example, the group of manipulators may all fan out or expand laterally away from the centerline in response to one manipulator (or two manipulators on the same side) moving laterally away from the centerline, or in response to two manipulators on opposite sides moving laterally apart from each other. Conversely, in response to one manipulator (or two manipulators on the same side) being manually moved laterally toward the centerline, or two manipulators on opposite sides moving laterally together, the manipulators may collapse laterally inward from a spread-out configuration. This type of fanning out or expanding movement away from the centerline (or the opposite, collapsing movement toward the centerline) can be useful (e.g., during the process of covering the manipulators with a sterile drape (or uncovering the manipulators after a procedure)) because deploying the manipulators can provide more space around each manipulator in which the user can work. Furthermore, a second group grasping mode can allow this to be achieved without requiring the user to manually place each manipulator individually, thereby saving the user time and effort. It should be understood that the centerline of the system is one example reference line for coordinated motion in the group grasping mode, but other points, lines, or planes of the system or other aspects of the environment can be used for coordinated motion.

[0039] In addition, in some embodiments, a first set of gripping patterns can be used when moving a manipulator between one end of the operating table and a position above the operating table, or between an undeployed and deployed state of the manipulator (such as may occur in the preparatory phase before a procedure or the post-procedural phase after a procedure is completed). In other embodiments, a second set of gripping patterns can be used for such movement of the manipulator. In yet other embodiments, some other group gripping pattern can be used for such movement of the manipulator. Using a group grip for such movement allows the user to grab only one or two manipulators on a given side of the operating table and carry all of the manipulators as a group to the desired orientation. This avoids the user having to make multiple trips along both sides of the operating table to retrieve all of the manipulators individually, saving time and effort.

[0040] In some embodiments, the system may have only one group gripping mode. In other embodiments, the system may have multiple group gripping modes, which can be selected between these modes, such as the first and second group gripping modes described above or other group gripping modes. In some embodiments where multiple group gripping modes are available, the user can select the mode to be used for a given group gripping movement (e.g., by the user pressing one or more buttons). In some embodiments where multiple group gripping modes are available, the mode to be used for a given group gripping movement can be automatically selected by the electronic controller based on set criteria (such as, for example, based on the current state of the system and / or sensed conditions). For example, in some embodiments, when the group gripping movement is initiated with the manipulators in a deployed position above the operating table, a first group gripping mode can be automatically selected, and when the group gripping movement is initiated with the manipulators positioned for covering (such as, for example, with all manipulators positioned at the head or foot of the operating table), a second group gripping mode can be automatically selected. As another example, when the system arranges the manipulators in a pre-deployed-for-docking state before a procedure, or in a post-procedural state after a procedure is complete, the second set of gripping modes can be selected, while the first set of gripping modes can be used in the system's deployed-for-docking state. The deployed-for-docking state begins when the controller arranges the manipulators in a position ready for docking with an access port in the patient's body and ends when all manipulators have docked. For example, in the deployed-for-docking state, the controller can arrange the manipulators and their defined portions (e.g., instrument holding portions) in predetermined poses relative to each other near the patient (e.g., above the patient), and the user can then manually move the defined portions of the manipulators from these predetermined poses into the docking orientation. In some embodiments, this predetermined pose of the defined portions includes the same relative pose that they will ultimately have upon docking, but offset from the patient (e.g., above the patient). Thus, using the first set of gripping modes in the deployed-for-docking state can allow the group of manipulators to be manually moved together as a group into the docking orientation, while maintaining the relative poses of the defined portions of the manipulators during the movement. In some embodiments, the mode can be user-selected and automatically selected (e.g., a mode can be automatically selected by default, and the user can override the selection if desired). In some embodiments, the group grip mode can be selected based at least in part on the manner in which the group grip movement is initiated—e.g., if the user initiates the group grip movement by pressing a group grip input, this may result in one group grip mode, while if the user initiates the group grip movement by pressing a different set of grip inputs, this may result in a different group grip mode.

[0041] The electronic controller can be configured to recognize that a group grip is required in response to a user providing a defined input, such as a user actuating an input device, a user applying a force to a manipulator, or any other convenient user input. In response to making this recognition, the electronic controller can determine an appropriate group grip mode and send drive signals to the actuators and brakes of the manipulator accordingly.

[0042] For example, in some embodiments, an input device designated as a grip input device configured to place the system in grip mode is used to notify the electronic controller that a group grip motion is desired. In some embodiments, the same grip input device is used to initiate both single manipulator grip and group grip (which will be described in more detail below), while in other embodiments a grip input device specific to group grip can be provided to initiate group grip mode. The grip input device can include a button, a touch sensor (e.g., a capacitive input), a proximity sensor (e.g., a visual, thermal, or other sensor that senses the presence of a user's hand near a defined location), or any other input device. In some embodiments, such a grip input can be provided on or near each manipulator (e.g., on an operating table, display, console, or track near the manipulator) and can be actuated (e.g., touched, pressed, or otherwise actuated) by the user to signal to the controller that a grip motion is desired, and can be deactivated (e.g., released or otherwise interacted with to deactivate) to signal to the controller that a grip motion is no longer desired. In some embodiments, the grip input can be positioned so that the user can grasp it to manually move the manipulator (e.g., on a distal link or instrument holder of the manipulator) so that by the action of grasping the manipulator, the user also actuates the grip input, and by the action of releasing the manipulator, the user also stops actuation of the grip input.

[0043] As described above, in some embodiments, the same grip input can be used for both a single manipulator grip motion and a group grip motion, with the electronic controller distinguishing which type of grip motion is desired based on set criteria. For example, in some embodiments, when a grip input for a single manipulator is pressed, the electronic controller interprets it as a request to provide a single manipulator grip motion for that manipulator. However, when the grip inputs for two manipulators are pressed simultaneously (e.g., because the user has grasped two manipulators and actuated two different grip inputs), the electronic controller interprets it as a request to provide a group grip motion for a group of manipulators (including the two grasped manipulators, and possibly other manipulators defined by the system). As another example, in some embodiments, a single press and hold of a manipulator's grip input can be interpreted as a call for a single manipulator grip, while a group grip motion can be initiated by pressing the grip input on a single manipulator multiple times within a defined time window (e.g., double-pressing and then holding or various other combinations programmed into the system, as will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art).

[0044] In some embodiments, the controller can also be configured to recognize when multiple users are simultaneously grasping manipulators, and can take different actions depending on whether a single user or multiple users are grasping the manipulators simultaneously. For example, in some embodiments, if a single user grasps two manipulators simultaneously (or otherwise actuates two grasping inputs), the controller can initiate a group grasping mode as described above, while if two separate users grasp the manipulators simultaneously, the controller can perform separate grasping motions for the grasped manipulators, or can perform group grasping motions for two different groups (e.g., one group follows the manual input of one user, while the other group follows the manual motion of the other user). Multiple users grasping manipulators simultaneously can be detected in various ways. For example, a camera or other sensor can detect which users are grasping which manipulators. As another example, the system can transmit an electrical signal (e.g., capacitive injection) into a hand grasping a first manipulator and sense whether the same signal is received at a second grasped manipulator—if a signal is received at the second grasped manipulator, the controller can infer that the same user is grasping both manipulators, whereas if no signal is received at the second grasped manipulator, it can be inferred that different users are grasping the two manipulators.

[0045] In some embodiments, instead of using the same grip input for both the individual manipulator grip motions and the group grip motions, a separate grip input can be provided for each motion. Thus, in these examples, the group grip motion can be initiated by pressing an input specific to the group grip motion. This group grip input can be located on the manipulator as described above, or elsewhere in the system (e.g., a console, foot pedal, or other separate input).

[0046] In some embodiments, the user input that notifies the electronic controller to initiate a grasping motion does not necessarily include the actuation of a specific input device (such as a button). Instead, in some embodiments, the user can manually apply a force to one or more manipulators to signal the controller that they wish to perform a grasping motion. The controller can sense the application of these forces via one or more sensors disposed throughout the manipulator, which can be separate from or integral to the manipulator's actuator / brake, and the controller can interpret the application of these forces as a user request to initiate a grasping motion. In response to recognizing the request for grasping motion, the controller initiates the grasping motion and begins driving the powered joints of the manipulator or group of manipulators to allow (and in some cases assist) (one or more) manipulators to move in the same direction as the direction of the applied force. This form of initiating a grasping motion can be referred to as a breakout grip, because the manipulator may initially resist motion, but once sufficient force has been applied to cause the controller to recognize the force as a request for a grasping motion, the manipulator exhibits a breakout state and begins to move. In some embodiments, a breakout grip can be used to initiate both single manipulator grasping and group grasping. For example, in some embodiments, single manipulator grasping may be initiated in response to a user grasping and applying force to a single manipulator, while group grasping may be initiated in response to a user grasping and applying force to two manipulators simultaneously.

[0047] Any other desired type of user input that can be detected by the controller can be used to initiate a group grasp motion (and in some cases, a single manipulator grasp as well). For example, a voice command can be detected and used to initiate a group grasp (and in some cases, a single manipulator grasp as well). As another example, a gesture (e.g., a hand gesture) can be detected and used to initiate a group grasp (and in some cases, a single manipulator grasp as well). As another example, a token or code (such as an RFID tag, a barcode or QR code, a magnetic identification device, or other similar token) can be embedded in a card, badge, wearable item, keychain, etc., and the user can place the token near the sensor to initiate a group grasp (and in some cases, a single manipulator grasp as well).

[0048] In some embodiments, if the user is only grabbing one manipulator when the group grasping motion is initiated (or at some time during the group grasping motion), the controller can impose different constraints on the group grasping motion, or otherwise drive the motion, which is different from the case where the user is grabbing two manipulators. For example, in some embodiments, when grabbing a single manipulator, the controller can allow translation but not rotation of the group, but allow both translation and rotation when grabbing two manipulators. Typically, when manually applying a force to one manipulator, it may be difficult for the controller to distinguish whether the force is applied by the user to rotate the group or to translate the group. Therefore, to avoid accidental rotation of the group in this case, rotation of the group can be prevented when only a single manipulator is grabbed during the group grasping motion. In this case, if the user desires to rotate the group, they can grab another manipulator (so that both manipulators are grabbed at the same time), whereupon the controller can resume normal group grasping operation and allow rotation.

[0049] Furthermore, in some embodiments, the group gripping motion may differ depending on which part of the manipulator the user grasps. For example, if the user grasps the proximal or intermediate link assembly of the manipulator, translation of the group may be permitted while preventing rotation, whereas if the user grasps the manipulator on the distal link assembly, both translation and rotation may be permitted. In some embodiments, multiple gripping inputs may be provided along the manipulator to allow the controller to identify the location the user is grasping. In other embodiments, vision or other sensors may be used to detect the location on the manipulator the user is grasping.

[0050] In some embodiments, multiple different forms of input for initiating a gripping motion can be used in the same system. For example, in some embodiments, a grip input is provided on the manipulator to allow initiation of a gripping motion (single manipulator, group gripping, or both), an additional grip input is provided elsewhere in the system (e.g., at the console) to allow initiation of a gripping motion (single manipulator, group gripping, or both), and / or a breakaway grip is also provided to allow initiation of a gripping motion (single manipulator, group gripping, or both). Any combination or permutation of the above inputs, or other types of user input, can be used in various embodiments to initiate either or both a single manipulator grip or a group grip.

[0051] As described above, in a group grasping motion, a defined group of manipulators is moved. The group can be user-defined and / or can be automatically defined by a controller based on set criteria. Typically, the group includes at least one or two manipulators grasped by the user, but may also include additional manipulators. For example, in some embodiments, all manipulators of the system may be included in the group by default, and this default selection can then be modified by excluding one or more manipulators based on a set of rules and detected conditions. For example, if one or more manipulators are not deployed or are in some other predefined configuration, these undeployed manipulators may be excluded from the group. As another example, any operation that happens to be docked with an inlet port in the patient's body may be excluded from the group. As another example, any manipulator that is placed farther than a defined distance (i.e., a threshold distance) from the (one or more) manipulators grasped by the user may be excluded from the group. The above distances can be measured between any defined positions associated with the manipulators (e.g., the position on the instrument holding portion of each manipulator, the center of gravity of each manipulator, or any other desired position). The electronic controller may already have the position information needed to determine the distance because the controller typically tracks the position of the manipulator and its connecting rod as part of controlling its movement. As another example, the user can explicitly instruct the manipulator to be removed from the default group, such as by actuating an input on the manipulator, which sends a signal to remove them from the group. The above-mentioned exclusion rules and other rules not explicitly mentioned above can be combined in the same system. In addition, other default groupings can be used, rather than all manipulators being default. The default group can be preprogrammed into the controller and / or be user-configurable. In addition, the exclusion rules can also be programmed into the controller and / or user-configurable. For example, in some embodiments, the controller may be able to use any of a variety of exclusion rules and can be preconfigured to adopt some or all of these rules by default, and then the user can change those exclusion rules in the adopted exclusion rules as needed (e.g., via the system's console or other user interface).

[0052] As another example, in addition to or instead of having a default group selected by the controller and then excluding manipulators from it, in some embodiments, the group can be constructed by the user explicitly indicating which manipulators are to be included in the group. For example, the user can indicate the manipulators to be included in the group by actuating a grip input on each manipulator to be included in the group. As another example, the user can select a group of manipulators by grabbing two manipulators that define the group. For example, a group can be defined by two grabbed manipulators and any other manipulators placed between them. So, for example, if four manipulators are placed in a straight line, the user can select all four manipulators by grabbing the two outermost manipulators, select a group of three consecutive adjacent manipulators by grabbing the two outermost manipulators in the group, or select a group of two adjacent manipulators by grabbing the two adjacent manipulators. As another example, the user can explicitly indicate the members of the group by pre-programming the selection (e.g., into the system's console or other user interface).

[0053] In addition, in some embodiments, the system can be configured to provide an indication to the user that group grip mode has been performed and / or which manipulators have been selected for inclusion in the group. In some embodiments, a light is used as an indicator. For example, if a manipulator is selected for the group, a light located on or near the manipulator (e.g., on an operating table, console, display, or track near the manipulator) can be turned on, or a light with a specific time pattern (e.g., constant or continuous flashing), color pattern, spatial pattern, or other pattern can be used to indicate the selection in the group. As another example, an audible indicator (such as an alarm or ringtone or a verbal indicator) can be used to indicate that group grip mode has been performed and / or which manipulators have been selected. As another example, a textual or graphical visual indicator can be displayed on a display screen located on the manipulator (e.g., by displaying text (e.g., "Group Grip") or a symbol on the selected manipulator) to indicate that group grip mode has been selected and / or which manipulators have been selected. As another example, text indicating a graphical representation of the selected arm may be displayed on a display external to the manipulator (e.g., on a visual cart display, a display on the operating table, on a track, or on a display coupled to the track, or on another system display). For example, the graphic may show the arm as seen from a top-down perspective and / or as seen from the user's perspective posed to reflect the actual arm position (e.g., the system may be configured to estimate the user's position from room sensors or other means). The graphical display may alternatively show an icon (e.g., a circle) indicating the manipulator's wrist position as seen from a top-down perspective, and highlighting of the icon may be used to indicate the selected manipulator. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that combinations of the above indicators may be employed.

[0054] Turning now to the drawings, some embodiments are described in more detail below.

[0055] Figures 1-12 An embodiment of a manipulator system 100 ("system 100") is shown. System 100 includes an operating table assembly 101, one or more track assemblies 120 ( Figures 1-12 ) and a plurality of manipulator arms 140 ("manipulators 140") coupled to the track assembly 120. Each manipulator 140 can carry one or more instruments 150 that can be removably or permanently mounted thereon.

[0056] like Figure 1 Side view and Figure 3 , operating table assembly 101 includes a platform 110 configured to support a patient or inanimate workpiece, a support column 102 coupled to and supporting platform 110, and a base 105 coupled to support column 102. Base 105 can be configured to contact the floor or other surface on which operating table assembly 101 is placed to provide stability to operating table assembly 101. In some embodiments, base 105 is omitted. In some embodiments, base 105 includes movement features, such as wheels, slides, or other such features (not shown), to allow movement of operating table assembly 101 along the floor or other surface.

[0057] The platform 110 includes one or more platform sections 103 (see Figure 1 and Figure 2 ) for supporting a patient or workpiece. The platform portions 103 each have a support surface configured to contact and support the patient or workpiece. In some embodiments, multiple platform portions 103 are used and arranged in series to support different portions of the patient or workpiece. The platform portions 103 are coupled to each other and / or to a support column 102, wherein the support column 102 directly or indirectly supports each portion 103. The platform 110 has a longitudinal dimension 198 (e.g., parallel to Figure 1 The x-axis in the figure), the lateral dimension orthogonal to the longitudinal dimension (e.g., parallel to the Figure 3 y-axis in FIG) and a thickness or height dimension orthogonal to both the longitudinal dimension 198 and the lateral dimension 199 (e.g., parallel to Figure 1 and Figure 3103 ). Typically, when platform 110 is in a neutral configuration, the longitudinal and lateral dimensions of platform 110 and the support surface of platform portion 103 are oriented generally parallel to the ground or other surface supporting operating table assembly 101. However, platform portions 103 and / or platform 110 as a whole may be movable relative to each other and / or relative to support column 102 (e.g., via translation and / or rotation), and thus platform 110 as a whole and / or its individual platform portions 103 do not necessarily need to be parallel to the ground. Thus, in various configurations through which platform 110 and / or platform portions 103 may be movable, including in some cases in a neutral configuration, one or both of the longitudinal and / or lateral dimensions may be tilted relative to the ground.

[0058] As mentioned above, the system 100 also includes a manipulator 140 that holds and controls the movement and other functions of the instrument 150 mounted thereon. Figures 1-14 The illustrated embodiment includes four manipulators, two on each side of the operating table assembly 101 ( Figure 1 and Figure 2 Only two manipulators 140 are visible in the figure), but any number of manipulators 140 may be included (such as, for example, one, two, three, or more than three manipulators mounted to each track assembly 120, as described in further detail below). The manipulators 140 may include a kinematic structure of links coupled together by one or more joints. For example, Figure 1 and Figure 3 As shown in relation to a representative manipulator 140, the manipulator 140 can include a proximal link assembly including a proximal arm 141 movably coupled to the track assembly 120 via one or more proximal joints 130; an intermediate link assembly including an intermediate arm 142 movably coupled to the proximal link assembly via one or more intermediate joints 145; and a distal link assembly including a distal arm 143 movably coupled to the intermediate link assembly via one or more distal joints 146. The distal link assembly can also include an instrument retaining portion 169 coupled to the distal arm 143 and configured to carry an instrument 150. Figure 1 and Figure 3 , the links and joints of only one manipulator 140 are labeled to avoid obscuring the drawing, but it should be understood that each of the other manipulators 140 may also include a series of links and joints in a similar manner. In some embodiments, the exact configuration of the links and joints (e.g., their size, shape, number, and / or degrees of freedom of motion) may vary from one manipulator 140 to the next, but they will all have at least some form of proximal link assembly and some form of distal link assembly movably coupled thereto (in some cases via an intermediate link assembly), similar to those described above.

[0059] The manipulator 140 is movable through various degrees of freedom of motion provided by various joints, including proximal, intermediate, and distal joints 130, 145, and 146, thereby allowing the instrument 150 mounted thereon to move relative to the work site. Some joints can provide for rotation of the links relative to each other. For example, joints 130, 145, and 146 comprise rotatable joints that allow the body coupled thereto to rotate about one or more axes. Additionally, in some embodiments, the distal arm 143 is movably coupled to the instrument holding portion 169 via a wrist 147 that includes a plurality of rotational joints for moving the instrument holding portion 169 relative to the distal arm 143 about a plurality of rotational degrees of freedom of motion (e.g., pitch, yaw, and roll degrees of freedom). Other joints (not shown) can provide for translation of the links relative to each other, and some joints can provide both rotation and translation. For example, in some embodiments, arms 141, 142 and / or 143 are extendable and retractable via prismatic (translational) joints (not shown); for example, arms 141, 142 or 143 may include two or more links that are translatable relative to each other in a telescopic manner.

[0060] Some or all joints of above-mentioned system 100 (and other joints that may exist in the system) are powered joints, which means that powered drive element can control the movement of joint by providing power.This powered drive element can include, for example, electric motor, pneumatic or hydraulic actuator and other types of powered drive elements that those of ordinary skill in the art will be familiar with.In addition, in certain embodiments, some joints of system 100 can be manually articulated (for example, unpowered) joints, which can be manually articulated (for example, by manually moving the connecting rod coupled to it). The unpowered joint referred to herein may lack powered drive element to drive the articulation of joint, but can still include other power aspects or equipment, such as brakes, sensors (for example, orientation, speed, force, torque sensor) or other powered devices controlled by electronics (or hydraulic pressure / pneumatic etc.).In addition, some joints (no matter whether they have power) may also passively balance (for example, via mass or spring).In general, group grasping motion as described herein may relate to the driven motion of powered joint.

[0061] like Figures 1-12 As shown, the manipulator 140 is coupled to the operating table assembly 101 via two rail assemblies 120_1 and 120_2 provided on opposite longitudinal sides of the platform 110. The following description will describe one rail assembly 120 to simplify the description, but the other rail assemblies 120 may be similarly configured. Figure 1 and Figure 3As shown, the track assembly 120 includes a track 121 and a plurality of brackets 126 (also referred to as "first brackets 126") that are coupled to the track 121 and the manipulators 140 to allow the manipulators 140 to move along the track 121. More specifically, the first brackets 126 can be coupled to the proximal arms 141 of the corresponding manipulators 140. Each bracket 126 can be movable along the longitudinal dimension 197 of the track 121 and couples a respective one of the manipulators 140 to the track 121 so that the manipulators 140 can translate relative to the track 121 along the longitudinal dimension 197 of the track 121. Thus, the brackets 126 can be considered another joint of the manipulator 140. In some embodiments, as Figure 1 As shown, in the neutral configuration of the platform 110, the longitudinal dimension 197 of the track 121 is parallel to the longitudinal dimension 198 of the platform 110 (e.g., parallel to the x-axis). Figure 1 , one first bracket 126 is shown per manipulator 140 , but multiple first brackets 126 may be provided to operably couple to and support a given manipulator 140 .

[0062] In some embodiments, in addition to manipulator 140 being movable along track 121, track 121 can also optionally be movable relative to operating table assembly 101. In these embodiments, track assembly 120 further includes one or more brackets 127 (also referred to as "second brackets 127") coupled to track 121 and table assembly 101 to permit movement of track 121. More specifically, brackets 127 couple track 121 to table assembly 101 such that track 121 can translate relative to table assembly 101 along a longitudinal dimension 197 of track 121. In some embodiments, translation between track 121 and table assembly 101 is provided by relative movement between second bracket 127 and track 121. For example, in some embodiments, second bracket 127 is fixed relative to table assembly 101, and track 121 and second bracket 127 are movably coupled together such that track 121 translates relative to second bracket 127 along a longitudinal dimension 197 of track 121. In some embodiments, translation of rail 121 and table assembly 101 is provided by relative movement between second bracket 127 and table assembly 101. For example, in some embodiments, second bracket 127 is fixed relative to rail 121 and is movably coupled to table assembly 101 such that translation of second bracket 127 relative to table assembly 101 along longitudinal dimension 197 causes rail 121 to also translate relative to table assembly 101. In some embodiments, translation between rail 121 and table assembly 101 is provided by a combination of relative movement between second bracket 127 and rail 121 and relative movement of second bracket 127 and table assembly 101. In some embodiments where second bracket 127 is movably coupled to table assembly 101, rail assembly 120 further includes second rail 124 that can be coupled between second bracket 127 and table assembly 101. In other embodiments, second bracket 127 can be directly coupled to table assembly 101. For ease of description, Figure 1 10. One second bracket 127 is shown, but any number (including zero in some embodiments) of second brackets may be used. In other embodiments, second bracket 127 is omitted, and rail 121 is fixed relative to operating table assembly 101 or platform 110. In some embodiments, rail assembly 120 is coupled to one of platform sections 103. In other embodiments, rail assembly 120 is coupled to support column 102.

[0063] In some embodiments, a motor or other actuation device (not shown) is provided to drive relative translation between rail 121 and first bracket 126. Similarly, in embodiments where second bracket 127 is present, a motor or other actuation device (not shown) can be provided to drive relative translation between rail 121 and second bracket 127 and / or between second bracket 127 and operating table assembly 101. In some embodiments, the motor / actuator is housed within rail 121. In some embodiments, the motor / actuator is housed within first and / or second brackets 126 and 127. In some embodiments, the motor / actuator is housed within operating table assembly 101.

[0064] In some embodiments, the movement of manipulators 140 relative to platform 110 enabled by track assembly 120 allows the distal linkage assembly of manipulators 140 to be positioned in various configurations in which one or more manipulators are positioned above platform 110, such as, for example, Figure 1 and Figure 3-Figure 9 10) and a configuration in which the manipulator is positioned outside of the end portion of the platform 110, e.g., the intermediate and distal link assemblies of the manipulator 140 have been swung about and adjacent the end of the platform 110, as shown. Figure 2 、 Figure 10-14 As shown. For example, during a procedure, during procedure setup, and / or when transitioning between configurations, a configuration in which the manipulators 140 are above the platform 110 can be used. For example, during the process of covering and uncovering the manipulators 140, a configuration in which the manipulators 140 are positioned outside and adjacent to the ends of the platform 110 can be used. These configurations are all examples of deployed configurations, as one or more manipulators 140 are deployed therein. The manipulators 140 can also move between the deployed configurations described above and a stowed configuration (not shown), in which the manipulators 140 are each stowed in a compressed (e.g., folded) state below the platform 110.

[0065] As described above, the instrument holding portion 169 of the manipulator 140 is configured to support the instrument 150, and in some embodiments, the instrument holding portion 169 includes a drive interface (e.g., an actuation drive interface) to removably couple the instrument 150 to the system and provide a drive input (e.g., a mechanical force, an electrical input, etc.) to drive the instrument coupled thereto. For example, the drive interface can include a drive output coupler (not shown) to engage (directly or indirectly via an intermediary) with a drive input coupler (not shown) of the instrument 150 to provide a drive force or other input to the mounted instrument 150 to control various degrees of freedom of motion and / or other functions of the instrument 150, such as moving the end effector of the instrument, opening / closing the jaws, driving translation and / or rotation of various components of the instrument, delivering material and / or energy from the instrument, and various other functions familiar to those of ordinary skill in the art. The drive output coupler can be driven by an actuator familiar to those of ordinary skill in the art (e.g., an electric servo motor, a hydraulic actuator, a pneumatic actuator). An instrument sterile adapter (ISA) can be positioned between the instrument 150 and the instrument manipulator mounting interface to maintain sterile separation between the instrument 150 and the manipulator 140. The instrument manipulator mounting interface can also include other interfaces (not shown), such as an electrical interface for providing electrical signals to and / or receiving electrical signals from the instrument 150. The instrument 150 can include any tool or instrument, including, for example, industrial instruments and medical instruments (e.g., surgical instruments, imaging instruments, diagnostic instruments, therapeutic instruments, etc.). In some embodiments, the system 100 can also include flux delivery capabilities, such as, for example, to provide power, fluid, vacuum pressure, light, electromagnetic radiation, etc. to the end effector. In other embodiments, such flux delivery can be provided to the instrument via another auxiliary system 1008 (described further below and familiar to those skilled in the art in the context of computer-assisted, teleoperated medical systems).

[0066] In some embodiments, aspects of the manipulator 140 can be similar to the manipulators described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 63 / 336,840, entitled “TABLE-MOUNTED MAIPULATOR SYSTEM, AND RELATED DEVICES, SYSTEMS AND METHODS,” or, for example, those described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,358,074, filed May 31, 2013, to Schena et al., entitled “Multi-Port Surgical Robotic System Architecture,” U.S. Pat. No. 9,295,524, filed May 31, 2013, to Schena et al., entitled “Redundant Axis and Degree of Freedom for Hardware-Constrained Remote Center Robotic Manipulator,” and U.S. Pat. No. 8,852,208, filed Aug. 12, 2010, to Gomez et al., entitled “Surgical System Instrument Mounting,” the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Although system 100 is shown and described as a table-mounted manipulator system, in other embodiments, manipulator systems are contemplated in which manipulators are coupled to structures other than an operating table, such as a patient-side cart (e.g., multiple manipulators supported by a single cart and / or a single manipulator supported by a separate cart), a ceiling, or other objects in the environment, and the principles described herein with respect to system 100 (particularly those related to the grasping motion described in more detail below) are also applicable to such other systems. The manipulator systems of various other embodiments may include, for example, various da Surgical systems, such as the daVinci sold by Intuitive Surgical, Inc. of Sunnyvale, California da Vinci and da Vinci SP systems.

[0067] The number, position and type of the connecting rods and joints of the manipulator and its various degrees of freedom of motion are not limited to those described above. In some embodiments, the manipulator includes additional connecting rods, joints and / or degrees of freedom in addition to those described above. In other embodiments, the manipulator can omit some of the above-mentioned connecting rods, joints and / or degrees of freedom. The embodiments contemplated herein include embodiments with various combinations of the above-mentioned one or more connecting rods, joints and degrees of freedom of motion.

[0068] like Figure 1As shown, system 100 may also include a control system 1006 and a user input and feedback system 1004. System 100 may also optionally include an auxiliary system 1008. Some or all of these components may be located remotely from operating table assembly 101. User input and feedback system 1004 is operably coupled to control system 1006 and includes one or more input devices for receiving input control commands to control the movement and / or operation of manipulator 140, instrument 150, track assembly 120, and / or operating table assembly 101. Such input devices may include, but are not limited to, telepresence input devices, triggers, grip input devices, buttons, switches, pedals, joysticks, trackballs, data gloves, trigger guns, gaze detection devices, voice recognition devices, body motion or presence sensors, touch screen technology, or any other type of device for registering user input. In some cases, input devices may be provided with the same degrees of freedom as the associated instrument they control, and when the input device is actuated, the instrument is controlled to follow or mimic the movement of the input device via drive input from the manipulator assembly, which can provide the user with the feeling of direct control of the instrument. The telepresence input device can provide telepresence to the operator, which means that the input device and the instrument are integrated into one perception. The user input and feedback system 1004 can also include feedback devices, such as a display device (not shown) that displays an image (e.g., an image of the workspace as captured by one of the instruments 1010), a tactile feedback device, an audio feedback device, other graphical user interface forms of feedback, etc.

[0069] Control system 1006 can control and / or assist a user in controlling the movement and / or operation of system 100. Specifically, control system 1006 is configured to receive input (e.g., user input, sensor input, or other input) and send control signals (e.g., electrical signals) to operating table assembly 101, track assembly 120, manipulator 140, and / or instrument 150 to control the movement and / or other operation of the various components based on these inputs, system states, and / or other conditions, and also based on control algorithms and / or other programming programmed into control system 1006. In some embodiments, control system 1006 can also control some or all operations of user input and feedback system 1004, auxiliary system 1008, or other components of system 100. Control system 1006 also controls gripping motion operations as described herein. Control system 1006 can include an electronic controller. The electronic controller includes processing circuitry configured with logic for performing the various operations described herein. The logic of the processing circuitry can include dedicated hardware for performing the various operations, software (machine-readable and / or processor-executable instructions) for performing the various operations, or any combination thereof. In examples where the logic includes software, the processing circuit system may include a processor for executing software instructions and a memory device storing the software. The processor may include one or more processing devices capable of executing machine-readable instructions, such as, for example, a processor, a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, a system on a chip (SoC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a graphics processing unit (GPU), etc. In cases where the processing circuit system includes dedicated hardware, the dedicated hardware may include any electronic device configured to perform specific operations, such as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a discrete logic circuit, a hardware accelerator, a hardware encoder, etc., in addition to or instead of a processor. The processing circuit system may also include any combination of dedicated hardware and a processor plus software.

[0070] Different degrees of user control and autonomous control can be utilized in the system 100, and the embodiments disclosed herein can include fully user-controlled systems, fully autonomously controlled systems, and systems with any combination of user and autonomous control. For user-controlled operations, the control system 1006 generates control signals in response to receiving corresponding user input commands via the user input and feedback system 1004 or via other devices such as those described herein with respect to grasping motions. For autonomously controlled operations, the control system 1006 can execute pre-programmed logic (e.g., a software program) and can determine and send control commands based on programming (e.g., in response to a detected state or a stimulus specified in the programming). In some systems, some operations can be user-controlled and other operations can be autonomously controlled. In addition, some operations can be partially user-controlled and partially autonomously controlled, for example, a user input command can initiate the execution of a sequence of events, and then the control system 1006 can perform various operations associated with the sequence without further user input.

[0071] In particular, the control system 1006 is configured to provide a group gripping function that allows group gripping motion of a defined group of manipulators 140 (in some cases, all manipulators 140, in other cases, a subset thereof). Group gripping motion means that the group of multiple manipulators 140 can be manually moved together as a group. More specifically, in a group gripping motion, a user grasps and applies force directly to at least one (in some cases, two) manipulators 140 in the group, and the grasped manipulator(s) 140 are grasped to allow the user to manually move the grasped manipulator(s) 140. In addition to the grasped manipulator(s) 140 being grasped, the remaining manipulators 140 (if any) in the group are also actively controlled by the control system 1006 based on the motion of the grasped manipulator(s) 140, so that all manipulators 140 move together as a group following the user's lead. More specifically, in a group grasping motion, the manipulators 140 move together as a group, meaning that the group of manipulators 140 are controlled by the control system 1006 so that their distal portions (e.g., instrument holding portion 169) maintain a defined spatial relationship relative to each other during motion. In a group grasping motion, the powered joints of the grasped manipulators 140 may be grasped, meaning that the joints are driven by the control system 1006 so that at least the distal portions of the grasped manipulators 140 are free-floating and manually movable by the user, i.e., the distal portions of the manipulators 140 are supported against gravity but are movable in at least one degree of freedom of motion (in some cases, all degrees of freedom of motion) in response to a user manually applying force to the manipulators 140 (typically to the distal arms 143 or instrument holding portion 169). In some cases, the control system 1006, in addition to supporting the weight of the grasped manipulator(s) 140, may also actively assist in their motion (e.g., by sensing the force applied by the user, inferring the direction of the intended motion, and actuating some or all joints to assist in that motion).

[0072] As described above, in the group grasp mode of operation, the control system 1006 drives the powered joints of the manipulators 140 of the group so as to maintain a defined spatial relationship between the distal portions of the manipulators 140. For example, in some embodiments, the instrument holding portions 169 in the group grasp are maintained in a predetermined spatial relationship. Maintaining the defined spatial relationship of the distal portions may include moving the ungrasped manipulators 140 to follow the lead of the grasped manipulator(s) 140 manually moved by the user, as described above, but it may also include constraining the motion of the grasped manipulators 140 to prevent certain motions that would cause them to deviate from the defined spatial relationship, as described above.

[0073] The nature of the defined spatial relationships may vary depending on the group gripping mode of the system 100. Figures 1-14In the embodiment of the present invention, the manipulator system 100 includes two group grasping modes that maintain different types of defined spatial relationships during the group grasping movement. Other embodiments can have more or fewer group grasping modes, where the defined spatial relationships are defined in any desired manner. Figure 3-Figure 9 Aspects of the first set of gripping patterns are shown, while Figure 10-14 Aspects of a second group of gripping modes are shown. In both examples, manipulators 140_1, 140_2, 140_3, and 140_4 are included in the group for group gripping motions. Figure 3-Figure 14 In the embodiments described below, for ease of description, it is assumed that the portion held in a defined spatial relationship includes the instrument holding portion 169, but as described above, the "defined portion" held in a defined spatial relationship may include other portions of the manipulator (or a device mounted thereon), which portions may include separate points or axes defined relative to the manipulator. For example, in some embodiments, the defined portion may include an instrument axis (or an axis aligned with such an axis) of an instrument carried by the manipulator, a point associated with the remote center of motion of the manipulator, a point at the tip of the instrument axis, or other portion. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the defined portion may be different for different group grasping modes, and / or may change from one time to another within the same group grasping mode based on a changing state or condition. Furthermore, the defined portion may be different for different manipulators in the same group - for example, the defined portion of a grasped manipulator may be different from the defined portion of a manipulator that is not grasped. Although Figures 1-14 A table-mounted manipulator system 100 is shown, but in other embodiments, a cart-based manipulator system may be used, wherein a manipulator (e.g., similar to manipulator 140) may be coupled to one or more movable platforms (carts) that are placed adjacent to the operating table (e.g., two carts placed on opposite lateral sides of the operating table), and the same principles and operations described herein with respect to the table-mounted manipulator system 100 may apply to such a cart-based manipulator system.

[0074] In the first group grasping mode, the defined spatial relationship maintained by the control system 1006 includes a fixed spatial relationship (i.e., a fixed relative pose) between the instrument holding portions 169 of the manipulator 140. Thus, in this example of the first mode, the active joints of the manipulator 140 are driven so that the instrument holding portions 169 of the manipulator 140 behave as if they were rigidly coupled together, moving together as a group relative to the platform 110, but maintaining the same spatial relationship and pose relative to each other that they had at the beginning of the group grasping motion throughout the movement. However, other portions of the manipulator 140 may change their pose relative to each other as needed during the group grasping motion to facilitate the motion.

[0075] In a first set of grasping patterns, the control system 1006 drives the unclawed manipulator 140 to follow the motion of the manually manipulated grasped manipulator 140, and constrains the manipulator 140 to maintain a fixed relationship with its instrument holding portion 169. To facilitate such actuation of the manipulator 140, the control system 1006 can infer the direction and type of motion (e.g., translation, rotation, or a combination of both) that the user is attempting to impart based on the direction and magnitude of the force applied by the user to the grasped manipulator 140 and / or based on its motion.

[0076] For example, in the first group grasping mode, if the user grasps one or two manipulators 140 and moves their instrument holding portions 169 along a given degree of freedom of translational motion, the control system 1006 senses this motion (and / or senses the force of the user-applied pushing motion) and drives the group of manipulators so that all of their instrument holding portions 169 move together in the same direction as a group. Figure 3 and Figure 4 The transitions between the states shown correspond to translations of the group along the vertical degree of freedom of motion (+z or -z direction), Figure 6 and Figure 7 The transitions between the states shown correspond to translations of the group along the longitudinal degree of freedom of motion (+x or -x direction), and Figure 7 and Figure 8 The transitions between the illustrated states correspond to translations of the group along the lateral degrees of freedom (+y or -y directions). Translations in multiple degrees of freedom can be combined into a single motion, but only a single degree of freedom is shown to simplify the discussion. For ease of illustration, only the distal links of the manipulator arms are shown in dashed lines to illustrate the described translational orientations.

[0077] For example, in Figure 3 In the illustrated state, in response to a user applying a force to the manipulators 140_3 and 140_4 in the -z direction as indicated by the dashed arrows, the control system 1006 drives the group of manipulators 140_1, 140_2, 140_3, and 140_4 so that the instrument holding portions 169_1, 169_2, 169_3, and 169_4 translate downwardly along the -z direction as a group, e.g., from Figure 3 The state shown is translated to Figure 4 The state shown (the position of the instrument holding portion 169 before the movement is Figure 4 shown by dotted lines).

[0078] Similarly, in Figure 6In the illustrated state, in response to the user applying a force to the manipulators 140_3 and 140_4 in the +x direction as indicated by the dashed arrows, the control system 1006 drives the group of manipulators 140_1, 140_2, 140_3, and 140_4 so that the instrument holding portions 169_1, 169_2, 169_3, and 169_4 translate as a group along the +x direction, for example, from Figure 6 The state shown is translated to Figure 7 The state shown (the position of the instrument holding portion 169 before the movement is Figure 7 shown by dotted lines).

[0079] In addition, Figure 7 In the state shown, in response to the user applying a force to the manipulators 140_3 and 140_4 in the +y direction as indicated by the dashed arrows, the control system 1006 drives the group of manipulators 140_1, 140_2, 140_3, and 140_4 so that the instrument holding portions 169_1, 169_2, 169_3, and 169_4 translate as a group along the +y direction, for example, from Figure 7 The state shown is translated to Figure 8 The state shown (the position of the instrument holding portion 169 before the movement is Figure 8 shown by dotted lines).

[0080] It should be understood that, as mentioned above Figure 3 、 Figure 4 and Figure 6-Figure 8 The user grasping manipulators 140_3 and 140_4 and moving instrument holding portions 169_3 and 169_4 along the translational degree of freedom is just one example of how translation of the group can be caused. Similar translation of the group can be caused by the user grasping any two of the manipulators 140 and moving their instrument holding portions 169 along the translational degree of freedom in a manner similar to that described above. Furthermore, in some examples where the group grasping motion can be driven by the user grasping a single manipulator 140, translation of the group can be caused by the user grasping any one of the manipulators 140 and moving its instrument holding portion 169.

[0081] Furthermore, in some embodiments, rotation may also be permitted in the first group gripping mode. Specifically, if a user grasps two manipulators 140 and moves their instrument holding portions 169 in opposite rotational directions, moves their instrument holding portions 169 in substantially the same direction but at different rates, or holds one instrument holding portion 169 translationally stationary while moving the other instrument holding portion 169, then in response, the control system 1006 drives the group of manipulators 140 such that all of their instrument holding portions 169 rotate together as a group about an axis defined by the directions of motion of the two instrument holding portions 169. For example, Figure 4 and Figure 5 The transitions between the states shown in correspond to rotations of the group about the longitudinal axis of rotation (an axis parallel to the longitudinal dimension 198 and the x-axis), and Figure 8 and Figure 9 The transitions between the states shown in correspond to rotations of the group about a vertical axis of rotation (an axis parallel to the z-axis). Rotations about a transverse axis (parallel to the transverse dimension 199 and the y-axis) can also be achieved (not shown herein). Rotations about other axes are also possible, but such rotations are functionally equivalent to multiple rotations about the aforementioned axes and are therefore not shown to simplify the discussion. In some cases, rotations can also be combined with translations, but for simplicity of description, only rotations are discussed below.

[0082] For example, suppose that Figure 4 In the state shown, the user applies forces to the two manipulators in opposite rotational directions in a vertical plane parallel to the transverse dimension 199 and perpendicular to the longitudinal dimension 198, such as indicated by Figure 4 In response, the control system 1006 drives the group of manipulators 140_1, 140_2, 140_3, and 140_4 so that the instrument holding portions 169_1, 169_2, 169_3, and 169_4 rotate as a group about the longitudinal axis of rotation (i.e., the axis of rotation parallel to the longitudinal dimension 198 and the x-axis). For example, rotation as a group about the longitudinal axis may include: Figure 4 The status shown is Figure 5 The rotation of the state shown ( Figure 5 The previous orientation of the instrument holding portion 169_3 before movement is shown in dashed lines in FIG. 1 ). The position of the longitudinal rotation axis will vary depending on how the user moves the manipulator 140. For example, if the user moves manipulators 140_1 and 140_3 equally in opposite directions, the instrument holding portions 169_1, 169_2, 169_3, and 169_4 can rotate as a group about the longitudinal rotation axis 192 extending through the center of the group (e.g., FIG. Figure 5 As another example, if the user moves the instrument holding portion 169_3 upward while holding the instrument holding portion 169_1 translationally stationary, the instrument holding portions 169_1, 169_2, 169_3, and 169_4 can rotate as a group about a longitudinal rotation axis 193 extending through or near the instrument holding portion 169_1, as shown. Figure 5As shown. Moving both instrument holding portion 169_3 and instrument holding portion 169_1 in opposite directions but at different rates may result in the longitudinal axis of rotation being located elsewhere, such as between axes 192 and 193. It should be understood that a user grasping and moving manipulators 140_3 and 140_1 to cause rotation of the group is only one example of how such rotation may be caused. A similar rotation about the longitudinal axis may be caused by a user grasping and moving any two of manipulators 140 in a manner similar to that described above.

[0083] Similarly, in Figure 8 In the illustrated state, in response to a user applying forces to the two manipulators 140 in opposite rotational directions, wherein the opposite rotational directions are in horizontal planes parallel to the transverse and longitudinal dimensions 199 and 198, for example, as indicated by Figure 8 The control system 1006 drives the group of manipulators 140_1, 140_2, 140_3, and 140_4 so that the instrument holding portions 169_1, 169_2, 169_3, and 169_4 rotate as a group about a vertical rotation axis (i.e., a rotation axis perpendicular to the transverse and longitudinal dimensions 199 and 198 and parallel to the z-axis). For example, rotation as a group about the vertical rotation axis may include rotating from Figure 8 The status shown is Figure 9 The rotation of the state shown ( Figure 9 ). As described above with respect to the longitudinal axis of rotation, the position of the vertical axis of rotation will vary depending on how the user moves the manipulator 140.

[0084] In some embodiments, in the first set of gripping modes, for at least some manipulators, the defined portion can be the instrument axis 151 (or an axis aligned therewith) of the instrument 150 carried by the manipulator, rather than the instrument retaining portion 169. While using the instrument retaining portion 169 as the defining portion does maintain the relative pose of the instrument axis 151 (because the instrument 150 is mounted to the instrument retaining portion 169), this may prevent the instrument retaining portion 169 from being repositioned in certain ways (e.g., rotating the instrument retaining portion 169 about an axis aligned with the axis 151). Such rotation may sometimes be desirable, for example, to allow difficult positions or poses to be reached and / or to avoid collisions. By using the instrument axis 151 as the defining portion, various embodiments allow such rotation to occur while still maintaining the relative pose of the axis 151. On the other hand, in some circumstances—such as when a user grasps the instrument holding portion 169—it may be desirable to avoid such rotation of the instrument holding portion 169, and thus in some embodiments, the controller may use the instrument holding portion 169 as the defined portion for the grasped manipulators 140, and the instrument shaft 151 as the defined portion for the ungrapped manipulators 140. In some embodiments, the instrument holding portion 169 may serve as the defined portion during some portions of the operation (e.g., moving the set of manipulators 140 from their initially deployed orientation down to an orientation proximate an entry port), and then the controller may switch to using the instrument holding portion 169 as the defined portion for at least some of the manipulators 140 when the manipulators reach a defined position (e.g., a position within a threshold of proximity to the entry port, a position within a threshold of proximity to a point on the operating table, or any other defined position).

[0085] As another example, in the second set of gripping modes, the defined spatial relationships maintained by the control system 1006 include variable spatial relationships. Although the spatial relationship is variable in this mode, it is still defined because the spatial relationship is determined based on a set of predefined rules. For example, in some embodiments, the variable spatial relationship maintained in the second set of gripping modes includes moving a subset of the set of manipulators 140 in an anti-coordinated (e.g., mirrored) manner relative to another subset of the set of manipulators 140 along one or more degrees of freedom of motion. For example, in some embodiments, manipulators 140 coupled to the operating table on one lateral side of the longitudinal center 191 of the system 100 (i.e., manipulators 140 coupled to one track assembly 120) can form one subset, while manipulators 140 on another lateral side of the longitudinal center 191 (i.e., manipulators 140 coupled to another track assembly 120) can form another subset, and these subsets can be controlled to move in an anti-coordinated manner relative to each other in the lateral degrees of freedom of motion. Movement of the manipulators 140 in other directions can remain coordinated. Thus, the ipsilateral manipulators 140 can move together in a coordinated manner for all degrees of freedom, while the contralateral manipulators 140 can move in a coordinated manner for some degrees of freedom, but may move in opposite directions when it comes to the lateral degrees of freedom. In other words, in these examples, the motion of the manipulators 140 is mirrored about the longitudinal center 191 of the system. Note that the longitudinal center 191 corresponds to a vertical plane parallel to the longitudinal dimension 198 and the height dimension 196, and is located at the center of the platform 110 along the lateral dimension 199, as shown in FIG. Figure 3 and Figure 10 Although it is a plane, for ease of description, the longitudinal center 191 may sometimes be referred to as the center line.

[0086] So, for example, in Figure 10 and Figure 12 In the state shown, in response to the first manipulator 140_1 on one side of the center line being grasped by the user and moved along the Figure 10 and Figure 12 In some embodiments, manipulators 140 on the same side of centerline 191 are driven to move in the same direction as one another for one or more degrees of freedom of motion. For example, in Figure 11 and Figure 13In the embodiment shown, the second manipulator 140_2 is also driven to move in the same -y direction as the first manipulator 140_1, as shown. In some embodiments, the manipulators 140 can be driven to move at different rates depending on their positions. For example, the outermost manipulator (e.g., 140_1) can be controlled to move at a greater rate than the innermost manipulator (e.g., 140_2) on the same side, causing the manipulators 140_1 and 140_2 to spread out along the y direction in response to the manipulator 140_1 moving in the -y direction, as shown. Figure 11 and Figure 13 shown.

[0087] In other embodiments (not shown), manipulators 140 on the same side of center 191 can be driven to move at the same rate as each other in one or more degrees of freedom (following manual input from the user), in which case they can maintain their relative spacing in that degree of freedom rather than spreading out.

[0088] In yet other embodiments (not shown), manipulators 140 on the same side of centerline 191 do not maintain any particular relationship relative to each other along one or more degrees of freedom—for example, in some embodiments, manipulators 140_1 and 140_2 can be freely moved by a user relative to each other in the ±y directions without the controller maintaining any defined relationship between them in that degree of freedom (although the manipulators 140 can maintain a defined relationship of motion in other degrees of freedom of motion). In such embodiments, where manipulators 140 on the same side of centerline 191 are not controlled by the system to move together in the ±y directions, Figure 10 and Figure 11 The unfolding motion shown therebetween can be achieved by the user grabbing both manipulators 140_1 and 140_2 and moving them apart from each other (e.g., moving them in the -y direction but moving manipulator 140_1 faster than manipulator 140_2, or moving manipulator 140_1 in the -y direction while holding manipulator 140_2 stationary, or moving manipulator 140_1 in the -y direction while moving manipulator 140_2 in the +y direction).

[0089] Furthermore, in response to movement of the first manipulator 140_1 and the second manipulator 140_2 on one side of the center 191 (regardless of how such movement is achieved in the various embodiments described above), the control system 1006 will drive the manipulators 140_3 and 140_4 on the other side of the center 191 to move in a lateral direction (e.g., a mirror image direction) opposite to the direction of the first manipulators 140_111 and 13 and the second manipulator 140_2, e.g., as Figure 11 and Figure 13For example, the manipulator 140 on one side can be driven to mirror the manipulator 140 on the other side based on the relative placement of the corresponding manipulators. Figure 10-13 , the two outermost manipulators 140_3 and 140_1 are mirrored in the y direction (if the manipulator 140_1 is moved by the user, the manipulator 140_3 is driven to mirror the movement of the manipulator 140_1 in the y direction, or vice versa), and the two innermost manipulators 140_2 and 140_4 are mirrored in the y direction (for example, if the manipulator 140_2 is moved by the user, the manipulator 140_4 is driven to mirror the movement of the manipulator 140_2 in the y direction, or vice versa). For example, this design of mirroring the center 191 along the y direction can allow the manipulator 140 to be easily moved from, for example Figure 10 The relatively compact arrangement shown is deployed in applications such as Figure 11 The arrangement shown may be a relatively unfolded arrangement, or vice versa, where the user only needs to apply force to one or both (depending on the embodiment) of the manipulators 140 to achieve the desired movement and arrangement. This can make certain operations (such as covering the manipulators 140 or uncovering the manipulators 140) faster and easier.

[0090] Although the second mode is described above with respect to a state in which the manipulator 140 is at the end of the platform 110, the second mode may also be used in other states (e.g., Figure 3 or Figure 4 For example, if the manipulator is placed above the platform 110 Figure 3 or Figure 4 The second mode is used in a state where, if manipulators 140_1 and / or 140_2 are pulled laterally away from the longitudinal center 191 by the user, this will cause manipulators 140_3 and 140_4 to also be driven to move away from the longitudinal center 191 (but in opposite directions).

[0091] As described above, in some embodiments, in the second set of gripping patterns, the controller drives all manipulators 140 to move in a coordinated manner without any mirroring (for one or more degrees of freedom of motion except the lateral direction (y direction). Figure 13 In the state shown, in response to the first manipulator 140 moving in the vertical direction (z direction), the control system 1006 drives all other manipulators 140 (on both sides of the center line) to follow this motion, as shown in FIG. Figure 14As shown. In some embodiments, the same situation may occur for movement in the longitudinal direction (x direction). Therefore, in this example, the manipulator 140 moves in a coordinated manner in the degrees of freedom of motion other than the lateral motion, and performs the lateral motion in an anti-coordinated manner. Although anti-coordinated motion on a single degree of freedom is described (e.g., mirror motion around a single plane), in other embodiments, anti-coordinated motion can be used for multiple degrees of freedom of motion (e.g., mirror motion around multiple planes). In addition, degrees of freedom of motion other than the lateral motion degree of freedom can be used for anti-coordinated motion.

[0092] The control system 1006 can be programmed to determine which mode to use for a given group grasping movement based on various criteria (e.g., based on sensed conditions and / or the current state of the system 100). For example, the control system 1006 can determine the orientation of the manipulator 140 and select a group grasping mode based on this. For example, the control system 1006 can select a first group grasping mode when the manipulator 140 is in a deployed orientation above the platform 110, and select a second group grasping mode when the manipulator 140 is in a deployed orientation at or outside the end of the platform 110, or when the manipulator 140 is positioned above the platform 110 in certain states (e.g., after a procedure is completed or before a deployed docked state). In some embodiments, the control system 1006 can select a mode based on the state of the system tracked by the control system 1006. For example, the first mode can be selected in the deployed docked state, and the second mode can be selected in the covered or uncovered state or in the procedure completed state. In some embodiments, the control system 1006 can select a mode based on user input. In some embodiments, the mode may be both user-selected and automatically selected (eg, a mode may be automatically selected by default, and the user may override the selection if desired).

[0093] The control system 1006 can be configured to recognize that a group grasping motion is required in response to a user providing a defined input (e.g., a user actuating an input device of the user input and feedback system 1004, a user applying a force to the manipulator 140, or any other convenient user input). In response to making this recognition, the control system 1006 can determine the appropriate group grasping pattern and send drive signals to the actuators and brakes of the manipulator 140 accordingly.

[0094] For example, in some embodiments, the grip input device 161 is used to notify the control system 1006 that a group grip motion is desired. The grip input device 161 may include a button, a touch sensor (e.g., a capacitive input), a proximity sensor (e.g., a visual, thermal, or other sensor that senses the presence of a user's hand near a defined location), or any other input device. In some embodiments, as Figure 3As shown, such a gripper input 161 can be provided on each manipulator 140 and can be pressed (or otherwise actuated) by the user to signal to the control system 1006 that a gripping movement is desired, and can be released (or deactivated) to signal to the control system 1006 that a gripping movement is no longer desired. In some embodiments, the gripper input 161 can be provided in a position that is convenient for the user to grasp to manually move the manipulator 140, such as at a position such as Figure 3 The manipulator 140 is shown on a distal link 143 or on an instrument holding portion 169. In some embodiments, the grasping input 161 can be located on an object near the manipulator 140, such as an operating table, a display, a console, or a track near the manipulator.

[0095] In some embodiments, the same grip input 161 can be used for both a single manipulator grip motion and a group grip motion, with the control system 1006 distinguishing which type of grip motion is required based on the circumstances. For example, in some embodiments, when the grip input 161 of a single manipulator 140 is pressed, the control system 1006 interprets it as a request to provide a single manipulator grip motion for that manipulator 140. However, when the grip input 161 of two manipulators 140 is pressed simultaneously (e.g., because the user has already gripped two manipulators 140), the control system 1006 interprets it as a request to provide a group grip motion for a group of manipulators 140 (which includes the two gripped manipulators 140 and may also include other manipulators). As another example, in some embodiments, a single press and hold of a grip input 161 of a manipulator 140 can be interpreted as an input command for a single manipulator 140 grip, while a group grip motion can be initiated by pressing the grip input 161 on a single manipulator 140 multiple times within a defined time window (e.g., double press and hold).

[0096] In some embodiments, instead of using the same grip input 161 for both the grip motion of a single manipulator 140 and the group grip motion, a separate grip input (not shown) can be provided for each motion. Therefore, in these examples, the group grip motion can be started by pressing an input specific to the group grip motion. This group grip input can be located on the manipulator 140 as described above, or elsewhere in the system (e.g., at the console). In addition, in some embodiments, there may be a plurality of different grip buttons placed on each manipulator 140, such as the grip button on the instrument holder portion 169, the grip button on the distal arm 143, and other grip buttons. In some embodiments, these grip buttons can all do the same thing, and providing multiple buttons is simply for the convenience of the user. In other embodiments, these different grip buttons may have different effects. For example, a grip button on the gripping instrument holding portion 169 can provide a portion of the manipulator 140 with respect to the gripping movement of the remainder of the manipulator 140, while the rest of the manipulator 140 remains rigid. In examples where there are multiple grip buttons on the same manipulator, in some cases a single grip button may be used to initiate a group grip, while in other cases any one grip button may be used to initiate a group grip, and in other cases multiple grip buttons on a single manipulator 140 may be used to initiate a group grip.

[0097] In some embodiments, the user input notifying the control system 1006 that a gripping motion is being requested does not necessarily include the actuation of a specific input device (e.g., a button). Instead, in some embodiments, a user can manually apply a force to one or more manipulators 140 to signal the control system 1006 that a gripping motion is desired (also referred to herein as a breakaway grip as described above). The control system 1006 can sense the application of these forces via one or more sensors (not shown) disposed throughout the manipulator 140, which can be separate from or integral to the actuator / brake of the manipulator 140, and the control system 1006 can interpret the application of these forces as a user requesting the initiation of a gripping motion. In some embodiments, a breakaway grip can be used to initiate both a single manipulator grip and a group grip. For example, in some embodiments, a single manipulator grip can be initiated in response to a user grabbing and applying a force to a single manipulator 140, while a group grip can be initiated in response to a user grabbing and applying a force to two manipulators 140 simultaneously.

[0098] In some embodiments, multiple different forms of input for initiating a grasping motion can be used in the same system. For example, in some embodiments, a grasp input 161 is provided on the manipulator 140 to allow initiation of a grasping motion (single manipulator, group grasping, or both), and a breakaway grasp is also provided to allow initiation of a grasping motion (single manipulator, group grasping, or both).

[0099] As described above, in the group grasping motion, a group of defined manipulators 140 are moved. The group can be user-defined and / or can be automatically defined by the control system 1006 based on the environment. Typically, the group includes at least one or two manipulators 140 grasped by the user, but may also include additional manipulators 140. For example, in some embodiments, all manipulators 140 of the system 100 can be included in the group by default, and then the default selection can be modified by excluding one or more manipulators 140 based on a set of rules and detected conditions. For example, if one or more manipulators 140 are not deployed or are in some other predefined configuration, these undeployed manipulators 140 can be excluded from the group. As another example, any manipulator 140 that has been docked with an inlet port in the patient's body can be excluded from the group. As another example, any manipulator 140 that is placed farther than a defined distance (i.e., a threshold distance) from the (one or more) manipulators 140 grasped by the user can be excluded from the group. The distances described above can be measured between any defined locations on or otherwise associated with the manipulators 140 (e.g., a point on the instrument holding portion 169 of each manipulator 140, the center of gravity of each manipulator 140, or any other desired location). The control system 1006 may already have the position information necessary to determine the distances because the control system 1006 typically tracks the positions of the manipulators 140 and their linkages as part of controlling their movement. As another example, a user can explicitly instruct the manipulators 140 to be removed from the default group (e.g., by actuating an input on the manipulators 140 that signals that they are to be removed from the group).

[0100] As another example, in addition to or instead of having the controller select a default group and then exclude manipulators 140 from it, in some embodiments, the group can be constructed by the user explicitly indicating which manipulators 140 are to be included in the group. For example, the user can indicate the manipulators 140 to be included in the group by actuating a grab input on each manipulator 140 to be included in the group. As another example, the user can select a group of manipulators 140 (e.g., a group including these two manipulators 140 and any other manipulators 140 placed between them) by grabbing two manipulators 140 that define the group. Thus, for example, if four manipulators 140 are placed in a line, the user can select all four manipulators 140 by grabbing the two outermost manipulators, select a group of three consecutively adjacent manipulators 140 by grabbing the two outermost manipulators 140 in the group, or select a group of two adjacent manipulators 140 by grabbing two adjacent manipulators 140. As another example, the user may explicitly indicate the members of the group by pre-programming the selections (eg, into a console or other user interface of the system).

[0101] In some embodiments, the control system 1006 can be configured to terminate the group grasp, remove one or more manipulators from the group of manipulators, or adjust the coordinated movement in response to identifying one or more conditions (e.g., a collision between one manipulator in the group and another object is imminent or has occurred, or another manipulator in the group has reached a range of motion (ROM) limit). In an example where the group grasp is completely terminated in response to detecting such a condition, the control system 1006 can stop the movement of all manipulators in the group. In an example where a manipulator is removed from the group in response to such a condition, the removed manipulator may be the manipulator that is about to collide or has reached a ROM limit, and the removed manipulator may stop moving with the rest of the group, while the remaining members of the group may continue to move as a group. In an example where the coordinated movement is adjusted in response to such a condition, the adjustment may include allowing the manipulator that is about to collide or has reached a ROM limit to remain as close to the group as possible, but adjusting the manipulator's movement from the movement that would normally be determined by the coordinated movement in order to avoid the collision or ROM limit. In such a case, the movement of the group may not perfectly maintain the spatial relationship between the defined parts that would normally be maintained during the group grasp.

[0102] Additionally, in some embodiments, the system 100 can be configured to provide an indication to the user that a group grip mode has been performed and / or which manipulators 140 have been selected for inclusion in the group. Figure 3As shown, a visual indicator 162 is provided on the manipulator 140 to indicate that the group grip mode has been performed and / or which manipulators 140 have been selected to be included in the group. The visual indicator 162 may include a light (e.g., an LED) that turns on if the manipulator 140 is selected for the group, or a specific time pattern (e.g., constant or continuous flashing), color pattern, spatial pattern, or other pattern of lights may be used to indicate the selection in the group. As another example, the visual indicator 162 may include a display screen and text or a graphical indicator may be displayed thereon to indicate that the group grip mode has been selected and / or which manipulators have been selected. For example, the text "Group Grip" (or similar text) or a symbol indicating group grip may be displayed on those manipulators 140 that have been selected to be included in the group. As another example, an audible indicator (e.g., an alarm or ringtone or a verbal indicator) may be made to indicate that the group grip mode has been performed and / or which manipulators 140 have been selected. As another example, textual or graphical indicators can be displayed on a display screen that is not located on the manipulator (e.g., on an operating table, rail, visual cart display, or other system display). These graphics can, for example, show the arm posed to reflect the actual arm posture, from a top-down perspective, and / or from the user's perspective if the user's position can be estimated from room sensors or other means. For example, the graphic can show an icon (e.g., a circle) indicating the position of the robot wrist as seen from a top-down perspective, and the icons for the manipulators selected from the group can be highlighted, color-coded, or otherwise distinguished from those icons excluded from the group. Combinations of the above indicators can also be used.

[0103] The auxiliary system 1008 may include various auxiliary devices that may be used for the operation of the system. For example, the auxiliary system 1008 may include a power supply unit, auxiliary functional units (e.g., functions such as flushing, evacuation, energy supply, lighting, sensors, imaging, etc.). As an example, in a system 100 for a medical procedure environment, the auxiliary system 1008 may include a display device for medical personnel to assist in the procedure, while a user operating an input device may utilize a separate display device as part of the user input and feedback system 1004. As another example, in a system 100 for a medical environment, the auxiliary system 1008 may include a flux supply unit that provides surgical flux (e.g., electricity, pressure, light, fluid, vacuum, etc.) to an instrument. Therefore, the auxiliary system 1008 as used herein may include various components and need not be provided as an integral unit.

[0104] In some embodiments, system 100 is configured as a computer-assisted, teleoperable medical system, in which case operating table assembly 101 can be configured to support a patient (not shown), and instrument 150 can be a medical instrument. For example, system 100 in this configuration can be used to perform any of a variety of medical procedures (such as surgical procedures, diagnostic procedures, imaging procedures, therapeutic procedures, etc.). Furthermore, when system 100 is configured as a teleoperable medical system, it does not necessarily need to be used on a living human patient. For example, non-human animals, cadavers, tissue-like materials used for training purposes, etc. can be supported on operating table assembly 101 and operated by system 100. In other embodiments, system 100 is configured as a computer-assisted, teleoperable system for use in a non-medical environment, in which case operating table assembly 101 can be configured to support an inanimate workpiece (something being manufactured, repaired, tested, etc.), and instrument 150 can be a non-medical instrument, such as an industrial instrument.

[0105] Now go to Figure 15 , one embodiment of a method 800 for implementing group grasping will be described. The method may be performed by or using an electronic controller of a manipulator system, (eg, a controller of the control system 1006).

[0106] In block 802, the controller detects a user input for initiating a group gripping motion. The user input can be simultaneous actuation of the gripping inputs of both manipulators, multiple actuations of a single gripping input, actuation of a gripping input dedicated to the group gripping motion, or simultaneous application of force to both manipulators by the user. In response to the detection of block 802, blocks 804-812 are executed.

[0107] In block 804, the controller detects which manipulator(s) the user is grasping or otherwise intending to manually manipulate. For example, this detection can be based on the user pressing a grip button on the manipulator as part of grasping the manipulator. Alternatively, sensors can be used to detect which manipulators are being grasped.

[0108] In block 806, the controller determines the members of the group for the group grasping motion. The members can be determined to include all deployed manipulators by default. In addition, members can be excluded from the default group if they are docked, more than a defined distance from the grasped manipulator, or via any other predefined criteria.

[0109] In block 808, the controller grips the member being grasped by the user. Grasping includes actuating the powered joints, which may include causing brakes of the joints to enter an unbraked state and actuating actuators of the joints, so that the grasped member can be moved relatively freely by the user while the powered joints support the weight of the manipulator and / or assist the user's movement.

[0110] In block 810, the controller drives the other manipulators in the group to follow the motion of the grasped manipulator while also maintaining the defined spatial relationship between the parts of the manipulator. The driving of the joints in blocks 808 and 810 also includes applying constraints to the motion of the manipulators (e.g., constraints to maintain spatial relationships, constraints to avoid collisions, constraints to prevent the manipulator from exceeding its range of motion, or other constraints).

[0111] In block 812, the controller determines whether the conditions for stopping the group grip are met. These conditions may include the user releasing the grip input, the user stopping gripping one of the previously gripped manipulators, pressing a stop button (e.g., an emergency stop button), a collision occurring or anticipated between the manipulator and the object, the manipulator reaching a range of motion limit (or approaching a limit), or any other desired condition. If the conditions for stopping are not met, the process returns to block 810. Thus, blocks 810 and 812 form a loop that has the effect of maintaining the group grip until the stop criteria are met. If the conditions for stopping are met, the process continues to block 814, and the controller resumes normal control of the manipulators, which may include separating the grip of the gripped manipulator and stopping driving other manipulators to follow the gripped manipulator.

[0112] Now go to Figure 16 , an embodiment of an electronic controller 900 for a manipulator system will be described. The controller 900 can be used as, for example, a control system 1006 or included in, for example, the control system 1006. The controller 900 includes a processor 901 and a memory 902 storing instructions 903, 905, 907, and 909. The processor 901 may include one or more processing devices capable of executing machine-readable instructions, such as, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, a system on a chip (SoC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a graphics processing unit (GPU), etc. The memory 902 includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as a hard drive, a solid-state drive, a random access memory, a persistent memory, or any other device capable of storing machine-readable instructions and / or other data.

[0113] The instructions stored on the memory 902 include instructions 903 for group grip initiation. These instructions, when executed, cause the controller 900 to perform any of the processes described herein for determining or detecting the initiation of a group grip. For example, the instructions 903 may include instructions corresponding to block 802 of the method 800 described above.

[0114] The instructions stored on the memory 902 include instructions 905 for determining group membership. These instructions, when executed, cause the controller 900 to perform any of the processes described herein for determining which manipulators should be included in a group for group grasping motion. For example, the instructions 905 may include instructions corresponding to blocks 804 and 806 of the method 800 described above.

[0115] The instructions stored on the memory 902 include instructions 907 for grasping the grasped manipulator. These instructions, when executed, cause the controller 900 to perform any of the processes described herein for placing the grasped manipulator in a grasped state by driving its powered joints. For example, the instructions 907 may include instructions corresponding to block 808 of the method 800 described above.

[0116] The instructions stored in the memory 902 include instructions 909 for driving the other manipulators to follow the manually manipulated manipulator and maintain the defined spatial relationship. These instructions, when executed, cause the controller 900 to perform any of the processes described herein for driving manipulators in a group grasping motion, such as the processes described above in connection with the first group grasping mode and / or the processes described above in connection with the second group grasping mode. For example, the instructions 907 may include instructions corresponding to block 810 of the method 800 described above.

[0117] As described above, the embodiments described herein may be well suited for use in any of a variety of medical procedures. For example, these procedures may be performed on human patients, animal patients, human cadavers, animal cadavers, and parts or portions of human or animal anatomical structures. Medical procedures as contemplated herein include any of those described herein and include non-surgical diagnostics, cosmetic procedures, imaging of human or animal anatomical structures, data collection from human or animal anatomical structures, training of medical or non-medical personnel, and procedures for operating on tissue removed from human or animal anatomical structures (not returned to the anatomical structure of a human or animal). Even if applicable to such medical procedures, these embodiments may also be used for benchtop procedures involving non-living materials and forms that are not part of the human or animal anatomical structure. In addition, some embodiments are also applicable to non-medical applications (e.g., industrial robotic uses) and sensing, inspecting, and / or manipulating non-tissue workpieces. In non-limiting embodiments, the techniques, methods, and apparatus described herein may be used in or may be part of a computer-assisted surgical system that employs robotic technology, such as the da However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various aspects disclosed herein may be embodied and implemented in a variety of ways and systems in both medical and non-medical applications (including manually operated instruments and computer-assisted teleoperated systems). References to surgical systems are illustrative and should not be considered limiting of the scope of the disclosure herein.

[0118] As used herein and in the claims, terms such as computer-assisted manipulator systems, remotely operable manipulator systems, and the like should be understood to refer broadly to any system comprising one or more controllable kinematic structures ("manipulators") that are movable and controllable at least in part by means of an electronic controller (with or without human input). Such systems may occasionally be referred to in the art and in common use as robotic-assisted systems or robotic systems. Such systems include systems that are controlled by a user (e.g., by remote operation), automatically by a computer (so-called autonomous control), or by some combination of these. In examples where the user controls at least some operations of the manipulator, an electronic controller (e.g., a computer) may facilitate or assist the operation. The term "computer," as used in "computer-assisted manipulator system," broadly refers to any electronic control device used to control or assist the user in controlling the operation of the manipulator, and is not intended to be limited to what is formally defined or colloquially referred to as a "computer." For example, the electronic control devices in a computer-assisted manipulator system can range from a conventional "computer" (e.g., a general-purpose processor plus memory that stores instructions executed by the processor) to low-level special-purpose hardware devices (analog or digital) such as discrete logic circuits or application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or anything in between. Furthermore, the manipulator systems can be implemented in a variety of environments to perform a variety of procedures (both medical and non-medical). Thus, although some of the examples described in more detail herein may focus on the medical environment, the devices and principles described herein are also applicable to other environments, such as industrial manipulator systems.

[0119] It should be understood that both the general description and the detailed description provide example embodiments that are illustrative in nature and are intended to provide an understanding of the present disclosure without limiting the scope of the present disclosure. Various mechanical, compositional, structural, electrical, and operational changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present specification and claims. In some cases, well-known circuits, structures, and techniques are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring the embodiments. Like numbers in two or more drawings represent the same or similar elements.

[0120] In addition, the terms used herein to describe various aspects of the present invention (such as spatial and relational terms) are selected to help the reader understand the example embodiments of the present invention, but are not intended to limit the present invention. For example, spatial terms (such as "beneath", "below", "lower", "above", "upper", "proximal", "distal", "up", "down", etc.) may be used herein to describe the direction or spatial relationship of one element or feature to another element or feature (as shown in the accompanying drawings). These spatial terms are relative to the accompanying drawings and are not limited to a particular reference frame in the real world. Thus, for example, the direction "up" in the accompanying drawings does not necessarily correspond to "up" in the world reference frame (e.g., away from the surface of the earth). In addition, if a reference frame different from the reference frame shown in the accompanying drawings is considered, the spatial terms used herein may need to be interpreted differently in that different reference frame. For example, a direction called "up" with respect to one drawing may correspond to a direction called "down" in a different reference frame rotated 180 degrees from the reference frame of the drawing. As another example, if the device is flipped 180 degrees in the world reference frame compared to how it is shown in the figures, an item described herein as being "above" or "over" a second item with respect to the figures would be "below" or "beneath" the second item with respect to the world reference frame. Thus, different spatial terms may be used to describe the same spatial relationship or direction, depending on which reference frame is being considered. Furthermore, the poses of the items shown in the figures are selected for ease of illustration and description, but in practical implementations, the items may be posed differently.

[0121] In addition, unless the context indicates otherwise, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well. Moreover, the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," and the like specify the presence of the stated features, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups. Unless specifically stated otherwise, components described as coupled may be directly electrically or mechanically coupled, or they may be indirectly coupled via one or more intermediate components. Unless the context of the specification indicates otherwise, mathematical and geometric terms are not necessarily intended to be used in accordance with their strict definitions, as one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that, for example, substantially similar elements that function in a substantially similar manner may readily fall within the scope of a descriptive term even if that term also has a strict definition.

[0122] Elements and their associated aspects described in detail with reference to one embodiment may, where practicable, be included in other embodiments that are not specifically shown or described. For example, if an element is described in detail with reference to one embodiment but not described with reference to a second embodiment, the element may still be claimed to be included in the second embodiment.

[0123] As used herein, the pose of an object refers to the combination of the object's position and orientation. For an articulatable object composed of smaller parts that can move relative to each other (e.g., a manipulator composed of links), the pose of the larger articulatable object includes the combined pose of the component parts relative to each other and / or relative to an external reference frame.

[0124] As used herein, "proximal" and "distal" are spatial / directional terms that describe a position or direction based on their relationship to the two ends of a kinematic chain. "Proximal" is associated with the end of the kinematic chain that is closer to the base or support of the kinematic chain, while "distal" is associated with the opposite end of the kinematic chain, typically including the end effector of an instrument. When used to refer to a position or portion of a component, proximal and distal indicate the relative orientation of the position or portion relative to the base of the chain, where the proximal position or portion is closer to the base (closer in this article refers to proximity along the kinematic chain, not absolute distance). When used to refer to a direction, "proximal" refers to a direction generally pointing from a given position along a kinematic chain to a more proximal position along the kinematic chain, and "distal" refers to a direction pointing from a given position to a more distal position along the kinematic chain.

[0125] Unless otherwise stated herein or implied by the context, when approximate terms such as "substantially," "approximately," "about," "around," "roughly," and the like are used in connection with a stated value, property, or relationship (e.g., the endpoints of a range or geometric property / relationship (e.g., parallel, perpendicular, straight, etc.)), this should be understood to mean that the value, property, or relationship does not require mathematical precision, but rather a range of variation refers to a range that includes, but is not strictly limited to, the stated value, property, or relationship. In particular, a range of variation around a stated value, property, or relationship includes at least: any insignificant variations; those typical variations for the type of item at issue in the relevant art due to manufacturing or other tolerances; and / or, unless otherwise indicated, variations within ±5% of the stated value, property, or relationship.

[0126] In view of the disclosure herein, further modifications and alternative embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, for clarity of operation, these devices and methods may include additional components or steps that are omitted from the figures and description. Therefore, this description is to be interpreted as illustrative only and is for the purpose of teaching those skilled in the art the general manner of performing this teaching. It should be understood that the various embodiments shown and described herein will be considered exemplary. Elements and materials and the arrangement of these elements and materials can replace those shown and described herein, parts and processes can be reversed, and certain features of this teaching can be utilized independently, all of which will be apparent to those skilled in the art after having benefited from the description herein. The elements described herein may be changed without departing from the spirit and scope of this teaching and the appended claims.

[0127] It is to be understood that the particular examples and embodiments set forth herein are non-limiting and that modifications in structure, dimensions, materials, and methods may be made without departing from the scope of the present teachings.

[0128] Other embodiments of the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered exemplary only, with the appended claims being entitled to their fullest breadth (including equivalents) under applicable law.

Claims

1. A manipulator system comprising: a plurality of manipulator arms, wherein each manipulator arm of the plurality of manipulator arms comprises a plurality of links coupled by one or more joints, the plurality of links of each manipulator arm comprising a distal link assembly, the distal link assembly comprising an instrument holding portion configured to removably couple to an instrument; and A controller configured to: initiating a group gripping mode for a group of two or more manipulator arms of the plurality of manipulator arms; and When in the group grip mode: actuating joints of the set of manipulator arms based on manual movement of one or more manipulator arms in the set of manipulator arms along at least one degree of freedom of motion, and Coordinating movement of a defined portion of each of the manipulator arms in the set of manipulator arms.

2. The manipulator system according to claim 1, wherein: Coordinating the movement of the defined parts includes maintaining a defined spatial relationship between the defined parts.

3. The manipulator system of claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured to drive the joints of the group of manipulator arms based on manual movement of the one or more manipulator arms in the group grasping mode by: placing the one or more manipulator arms in the set of manipulator arms into a grasping state, wherein in the grasping state, the controller configures the joints of the grasping manipulator arms to allow a user to manually move the grasping manipulator arms along the at least one degree of freedom of motion; and The remaining manipulator arms of the set of manipulator arms are driven based on the movement of the grasping manipulator arm so as to maintain the defined spatial relationship between the defined portions of each of the manipulator arms in the set of manipulator arms. 4 . The manipulator system of claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured to utilize a first set of gripping patterns as the set of gripping patterns in response to a first condition, and to utilize a second set of gripping patterns as the set of gripping patterns in response to a second condition.

5. The manipulator system according to claim 4, wherein: The defined spatial relationship is defined differently in the first set of gripping patterns than in the second set of gripping patterns.

6. The manipulator system according to claim 5, in, in said first set of gripping patterns, said defined spatial relationship comprising a fixed spatial relationship between said defined portions of each of said manipulator arms in said set of manipulator arms; and Wherein, in said second set of gripping modes, said defined spatial relationship comprises a variable spatial relationship between said defined portions of each of said manipulator arms in said set of manipulator arms.

7. The manipulator system of claim 4, wherein the first condition comprises the manipulator system being in a deployed docked state.

8. The manipulator system of claim 4, further comprising a surgical table assembly comprising a platform configured to support a body, wherein the first condition comprises the set of manipulator arms being positioned above the platform.

9. The manipulator system of claim 4, wherein the second condition comprises the manipulator system being in a pre-deployment docking state or a post-procedure state.

10. The manipulator system of claim 9, further comprising an operating table assembly comprising a platform configured to support a body, wherein the second condition comprises the set of manipulator arms being positioned at or beyond an end of the platform.

11. The manipulator system of claim 1 , wherein initiating the group gripping mode comprises initiating a first group gripping mode, wherein the coordinated movement of the defined portions comprises maintaining a fixed spatial relationship between the defined portions of each of the manipulator arms in the group of manipulator arms.

12. The manipulator system according to claim 11, wherein: The fixed spatial relationship corresponds to a spatial relationship between the defined portions of each of the manipulator arms in the group of manipulator arms when the group grasping mode is activated.

13. The manipulator system of claim 1 , wherein initiating the group grasping mode comprises performing a second group grasping mode, wherein the coordinated movement of the defined portion comprises a mirrored movement of the defined portion of a first subset of the group of manipulator arms relative to the defined portion of a second subset of the group of manipulator arms.

14. The manipulator system according to claim 13, wherein the system further comprises an operating table assembly comprising a platform configured to support a body; wherein said first subset of said set of manipulator arms is positioned on a first side of said operating table assembly and said second subset of said set of manipulator arms is positioned on a second side of said operating table assembly opposite said first side; and in, The mirrored movement is mirrored about a centerline of the platform.

15. The manipulator system of claim 1, wherein the at least one degree of freedom of motion comprises three degrees of freedom of translational motion.

16. The manipulator system of claim 1, wherein the at least one degree of freedom of motion comprises three degrees of freedom of rotational motion.

17. The manipulator system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to determine which manipulator arms to include in the set of manipulator arms based on respective states of the plurality of manipulator arms.

18. The manipulator system of claim 17, wherein the controller is configured to exclude any manipulator arms in an undeployed state from the set of manipulator arms.

19. The manipulator system of claim 17, wherein the controller is configured to exclude from the set of manipulator arms any manipulator arm that is in a docked state with a cannula.

20. The manipulator system of claim 17, wherein the controller is configured to: For each manipulator arm not grasped by a user, determining a distance between the corresponding manipulator arm and the manipulator arm grasped by the user; and Any manipulator arms that are not grasped by the user and for which the distance is greater than a threshold are excluded from the set of manipulator arms.

21. The manipulator system of claim 17, wherein the controller is configured to include each of the plurality of manipulator arms in the set except for manipulator arms that meet any one of a set of one or more exclusion criteria.

22. The manipulator system of claim 21, wherein: The set of one or more exclusion criteria includes at least one of the following: In the undeployed state; is in docked state; and The manipulator arm that the user is grasping is further than the threshold distance.

23. The manipulator system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to detect a user input associated with initiating a group grip and to initiate the group grip mode of the group of manipulator arms in response to detecting the user input.

24. The manipulator system of claim 23, wherein the user input associated with initiating a group grasp comprises at least one of: simultaneously actuating corresponding gripping input devices disposed on two of the manipulator arms; actuating a grip input device disposed on one of the manipulator arms a plurality of times within a defined time window; and A force having a magnitude greater than a threshold is simultaneously applied to both of the manipulator arms.

25. The manipulator system of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of manipulator arms comprises a grip input device actuatable to generate an activation signal, and the controller is configured to initiate the group grip mode based at least in part on the activation signal generated by one or more of the grip input devices.

26. The manipulator system of claim 25, wherein: The grip input device of each manipulator arm is disposed on a link of the distal linkage assembly of the corresponding manipulator arm.

27. The manipulator system of claim 25, wherein: The grip input device of each manipulator arm is disposed on the instrument holding portion of the respective manipulator arm.

28. The manipulator system of claim 25, wherein the controller is configured to initiate the group grip mode based at least in part on one or more of: receiving activation signals from two of the grip input devices simultaneously; and A plurality of activation signals are received from one of the grip input devices within a defined time window.

29. The manipulator system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to, in response to identifying that a collision of one of the manipulator arms in the group with another object is about to occur or has occurred, end the group grasping mode, remove one or more manipulator arms from the group of manipulator arms, or adjust coordinated movement.

30. The manipulator system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to, in response to identifying that one of the manipulator arms in the group has reached a range of motion limit, end the group grasping mode, remove one or more manipulator arms from the group of manipulator arms, or adjust coordinated movement.

31. The manipulator system of claim 1, wherein the defined portion comprises the instrument holding portion.

32. The manipulator system of claim 1, further comprising one or more indicators configured to generate a notification in response to an ongoing group grasping motion.

33. The manipulator system of claim 32, wherein the notification includes an indication of which manipulator arms are included in the set of manipulator arms.

34. The manipulator system of claim 32, wherein the one or more indicators comprise a plurality of visual indicators respectively disposed on each of the plurality of manipulator arms.

35. The manipulator system of claim 34, wherein the notification comprises each of the plurality of visual indicators generating a visual output, each of the visual indicators being disposed on each manipulator arm included in the set of manipulator arms.

36. The manipulator system of claim 32, wherein the one or more indicators comprise a display device and the notification comprises a textual or graphical display.

37. The manipulator system of claim 32, wherein the controller is configured to: In response to a pair of the manipulator arms being simultaneously grasped, determining whether a single user is grasping the pair of manipulator arms or multiple users are grasping the pair of manipulator arms; In response to determining that a single user is grasping the pair of manipulator arms, initiating the group grasping mode for a group including at least the pair of manipulator arms; and In response to determining that multiple users are grasping the pair of manipulator arms, the group grasping mode is not initiated for a group including the grasped manipulators.

38. The manipulator system of claim 37, wherein the controller is configured to initiate an individual grip for each manipulator arm in the pair of manipulator arms in response to determining that a plurality of users are gripping the pair of manipulator arms.

39. The manipulator system of claim 37 , wherein the controller is configured to determine whether a single user is grasping the pair of manipulator arms or multiple users are grasping the pair of manipulator arms by one of: using a camera to detect which users grasp which manipulator arms, or transmitting an electrical signal to a hand grasping a first manipulator arm in the pair and sensing whether the same signal is received at a second manipulator in the pair.

40. The manipulator system of claim 37, wherein the controller is configured to constrain the motion of the group differently in the group grasping mode based on whether the single user is grasping a single manipulator arm or two manipulator arms.

41. The manipulator system of claim 40, wherein the controller is configured to allow translation but not rotation of the group in response to determining that the single user is grasping a single manipulator arm in the group grasping mode.

42. The manipulator system of claim 41, wherein the controller is configured to allow both translation and rotation of the group in response to determining that the single user is grasping two manipulator arms in the group grasping mode.

43. The manipulator system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to constrain the motion of the group differently in the group grip mode based on which locations on the manipulator arm the user is gripping.

44. The manipulator system of claim 43, wherein the controller is configured to allow translation but not rotation of the group in response to determining that a user is grasping a first portion of at least one of the manipulator arms in the group grasping mode.

45. The manipulator system of claim 44, wherein the controller is configured to allow both translation and rotation of the group in response to determining that the user is grasping the second portion of at least one of the manipulator arms in the group grasping mode.

46. ​​The manipulator system of claim 44, wherein the second portion is a portion of the instrument retaining portion and the first portion is proximal to the instrument retaining portion.

47. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by a processor of a manipulator system comprising a plurality of manipulator arms to cause the processor to: initiating a group gripping mode for a group of two or more manipulator arms of the plurality of manipulator arms; and When in the group grip mode: actuating joints of the set of manipulator arms based on manual movement of one or more manipulator arms in the set of manipulator arms along at least one degree of freedom of motion, and Coordinating movement of a defined portion of each of the manipulator arms in the set of manipulator arms.

48. A method of controlling a manipulator system, comprising: activating a group gripping mode for a group of two or more manipulator arms of the plurality of manipulator arms of the manipulator system; and When in the group grip mode: actuating joints of the set of manipulator arms based on manual movement of one or more manipulator arms in the set of manipulator arms along at least one degree of freedom of motion, and Coordinating movement of a defined portion of each of the manipulator arms in the set of manipulators.

49. A method of positioning a manipulator arm of a manipulator system, comprising: indicating a requested group grasping motion to a controller of the manipulator system; and A group of manipulator arms is moved together as a group by manually applying a force to one or more of the manipulator arms, wherein movement is coordinated between defined portions of each manipulator arm in the group of manipulator arms, wherein the group of manipulator arms includes at least one manipulator arm to which the force is not manually applied.

Images