A control method, system, and storage medium for robot exit actions

Abstract

This invention relates to the field of surgical robot control technology, specifically to a control method for robot exit actions, comprising the following steps: moving the robot's axial motor to a first preset position; setting the compensation stroke of the axial motor to obtain a compensation position; causing the robot to perform a posture correction action between the first preset position and the compensation position until posture correction is completed; and moving the robot's axial motor to a second preset position. During the posture correction action, the robot does not experience significant descent, preventing tools on the robot from causing damage to the wound or other tissues near the wound due to significant axial descent during movement under RCM constraints. Simultaneously, both the first preset position and the compensation position are within the stroke of the axial motor, ensuring that the axial motor can complete the action, ultimately allowing the robot to safely exit the surgical area.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of motion control for surgical robots, and more specifically, to a control method, system, and storage medium for robot exit actions. Background Technology

[0002] With the development of robotics technology, surgical robots are being used more and more widely, but they also face increasingly stringent technical challenges. Because the surgical needles carried by surgical robots must operate in extremely confined spaces, any abnormal collision or sudden change in resistance can cause irreversible damage. Therefore, both the needle withdrawal mechanism after surgery and the emergency withdrawal mechanism during surgery are core modules of the surgical robot's safety architecture, and their performance directly determines the level of surgical risk.

[0003] In current technology, automatic needle withdrawal in robots generally employs a command set-based withdrawal method, which is suitable for most routine surgeries. However, for surgeries where surgical instruments need to withdraw around the RCM point, these procedures typically utilize surgical robots with RCM constraints. If these robots directly use a return-to-center command set, it can damage the RCM point and harm the patient's wound. Therefore, for surgeries where instruments need to withdraw around the RCM point, manual withdrawal is still commonly used. However, manual withdrawal suffers from issues such as insufficient needle withdrawal accuracy due to physiological tremors, over-reliance on the surgeon's judgment, and long learning times. Some robots employing automatic withdrawal methods are prone to problems when withdrawing and performing rotational movements under RCM constraints. Because compensation is required in the axial depth direction, if the required compensation exceeds the axial motor's travel range, the axial motor may fail to complete the movement. Furthermore, significant descent during robot operation can also damage the wound. Summary of the Invention

[0004] To overcome the problem in the prior art where the axial motor of a surgical robot experiences a significant decrease or failure to perform motion when exiting the RCM constraint, this invention provides a control method, system, and storage medium for robot exit actions. For situations where axial motor movement is required to perform rotational actions, this invention ensures that the robot can complete the exit action without causing damage to the wound.

[0005] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is: a control method for robot exit action, comprising:

[0006] Move the robot's axial motor to the first preset position;

[0007] The compensation stroke of the axial motor is set to obtain the compensation position;

[0008] The robot is instructed to perform an attitude correction action between the first preset position and the compensation position until the attitude correction is completed.

[0009] Move the robot's axial motor to the second preset position.

[0010] In the above technical solution, the axial motor's travel direction is divided into upward and downward. After the robot completes the surgical action, the goal is for the tools mounted on the robot to move away from the wound site. Therefore, the axial motor needs to move upward. The first preset position is a position within the upward travel of the axial motor. Moving the axial motor to the first preset position is to move upward within the limited upward travel of the axial motor, thereby moving as far away from the wound site as possible. After moving away from the wound site, a compensation travel is set. This compensation travel can be executed whether the axial motor continues to rise or fall. The axial motor moves between the first preset position and the compensation position until the robot completes attitude correction within this travel distance. Attitude correction refers to the robot returning to its initial posture. The attitude correction action refers to the coordinated action of all the robot's motors during the robot's return to the initial posture, causing the robot to rotate around the RCM point. Since the robot completes attitude correction between the first preset position and the compensation position, there will be no significant downward movement during the attitude correction action. There will only be a small downward movement, which is safe and controllable and can avoid causing further damage to the wound or other tissues near the wound by the tools on the robot. At the same time, both the first preset position and the compensation position are within the stroke of the axial motor, ensuring that the axial motor can complete the action.

[0011] Preferably, the step of instructing the robot to perform an attitude correction action between the first preset position and the compensation position until attitude correction is completed specifically involves:

[0012] The robot's posture is corrected until the axial motor moves from the first preset position to the compensation position;

[0013] Reset the axial motor to the first preset position;

[0014] The robot's posture correction action is executed once or multiple times in a sequential cycle until the axial motor moves from the first preset position to the compensation position and the axial motor of the robot is reset to the first preset position, until the robot completes posture correction.

[0015] Because the robot consumes axial motor travel when performing movements under RCM constraints, the remaining axial motor travel may be insufficient for proper orientation correction or, after orientation correction, insufficient for safe exit. Therefore, by limiting the compensation distance, the robot returns to the first preset position after each orientation correction, allowing the axial motor travel to be restored during the orientation correction process. Furthermore, the axial motor moves axially when returning to the first preset position. Thus, after orientation correction is complete, i.e., after completing the movement under RCM constraints, the robot's tool end effector leaves the surgical area where the wound is located. Then, using the remaining axial motor travel, it moves to the second preset position, moving the robot's tool as far away from the work area as possible, completing the robot's exit action.

[0016] Preferably, the step of "until the robot completes posture correction" specifically refers to:

[0017] After the axial motor moves from the first preset position to the compensation position, or during the process of the axial motor moving to the compensation position, the robot completes its posture correction. Once the robot has completed its posture correction during the movement of the axial motor to the compensation position or after reaching the compensation position, it does not need to reset to the first preset position and can directly move to the second preset position.

[0018] Preferably, the first preset position is between the first boundary position and the second boundary position of the axial motor; the compensation stroke is less than or equal to the distance between the first preset position and the first boundary position and less than the distance between the first preset position and the second boundary position. The first boundary position and the second boundary position are the upper limit position and the lower limit position of the axial motor's stroke, respectively, where the upper limit position is the maximum upward position that the axial motor can reach, and the lower limit position is the maximum downward position that the axial motor can descend. Since the axial motor can move upward or downward when the robot performs the attitude correction action, setting the first preset position between the first boundary position and the second boundary position ensures that the axial motor can perform the attitude correction action regardless of whether it moves upward or downward, because the compensation stroke is within the movable stroke range of the axial motor.

[0019] Preferably, the first preset position is close to the first boundary position. The first boundary position is the upper limit position of the axial motor's upward movement. The closer the first preset position is to the first boundary position, the farther the end of the tool on the robot is from the wound, so as to ensure that the wound or other tissues near the wound will not be touched during the robot's posture return process.

[0020] Preferably, the second preset position coincides with the first boundary position. After the posture is rectified, that is, after the robot's movement under RCM constraints is completed, the axial motor moves to the first boundary position when it is furthest from the surgical area of ​​the wound, which is the safest state. Therefore, the second preset position can be set as the first boundary position.

[0021] Preferably, before moving the robot's axial motor to the first preset position, it is determined whether the robot's current pose meets the posture correction condition; if it does, the exit operation is performed directly.

[0022] Preferably, the exit operation includes:

[0023] Move the robot's axial motor to the third preset position;

[0024] Instruct the robot to perform an attitude correction action until the attitude correction is completed.

[0025] A robot control system is characterized by a control method for implementing the above-mentioned robot exit action, comprising a robot, a tool mounted on the robot, and a controller module, wherein the controller module is electrically connected to the robot, acquires data from the robot's motors, and controls the robot's movement; the controller module includes a processor for performing calculations.

[0026] A storage medium, characterized in that it is used to store a computer program; wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the control method for the robot exit action described above.

[0027] Compared with existing technologies, the advantages of this invention are as follows: For robots that require RCM-constrained movement during exit actions, the robot completes its attitude correction between a first preset position and a compensation position. During this correction process, the robot does not experience significant descent, preventing damage to the wound or surrounding tissues caused by a significant axial descent of the tools on the robot during RCM-constrained movement. Furthermore, both the first preset position and the compensation position are within the stroke of the axial motor, ensuring the axial motor can complete the movement and ultimately allowing the robot to safely exit the surgical area. Attached Figure Description

[0028] Figure 1 This is a flowchart of Embodiment 1 of a control method for robot exiting an action according to the present invention;

[0029] Figure 2 This is a flowchart of Embodiment 2 of a control method for robot exiting an action according to the present invention;

[0030] Figure 3This is a flowchart of Embodiment 3 of a control method for robot exiting an action according to the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0031] The accompanying drawings are for illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as limiting this patent. To better illustrate this embodiment, some components in the drawings may be omitted, enlarged, or reduced, and do not represent the actual dimensions of the product. It is understandable to those skilled in the art that some well-known structures and their descriptions may be omitted in the drawings. The positional relationships described in the drawings are for illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as limiting this patent.

[0032] In the accompanying drawings of the embodiments of the present invention, the same or similar reference numerals correspond to the same or similar components. In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that if terms such as "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "long," and "short" indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, they are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, the terms used to describe positional relationships in the drawings are only for illustrative purposes and should not be construed as limiting the present patent. For those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0033] The technical solution of the present invention will be further described in detail below through specific embodiments and in conjunction with the accompanying drawings:

[0034] Example 1

[0035] like Figure 1 The following is an embodiment 1 of a control method for a robot exiting an action, comprising the following steps:

[0036] S1: Move the robot's axial motor to the first preset position;

[0037] S2: Set the compensation stroke of the axial motor to obtain the compensation position;

[0038] S3: Instruct the robot to perform an attitude correction action between the first preset position and the compensation position until the attitude correction is completed;

[0039] S4: After the robot completes its posture correction, move the robot's axis motor to the second preset position.

[0040] Attitude homing refers to the robot returning to its initial posture. The attitude homing motion refers to the coordinated movement of all the robot's motors during this process, causing the robot to rotate under the constraints of the Remote Center of Motion (RCM). An axial motor is a motor that drives the robot's tool to move axially; it is typically located at the robot's end effector.

[0041] The working principle or workflow of this embodiment is as follows: The axial motor's travel direction is divided into upward and downward. After the robot completes the surgical action, the goal is for the tools mounted on the robot to move away from the wound site. Therefore, the axial motor needs to move upward. The first preset position is a position within the upward travel of the axial motor. The axial motor moves to the first preset position to move upward within its limited upward travel range, thereby moving as far away from the wound site as possible. After moving away from the wound site, a compensation travel is set. This compensation travel can be executed whether the axial motor continues to rise or fall. The axial motor moves between the first preset position and the compensation position until the robot completes attitude correction within this travel distance. Attitude correction refers to the robot returning to its initial posture. The attitude correction action refers to the coordinated action of all the robot's motors during the robot's return to the initial posture, causing the robot to rotate under RCM constraints. Since the robot completes attitude correction between the first preset position and the compensation position, there is no significant downward movement during the attitude correction action. There is only a small downward movement, which is safe and controllable and can avoid causing further damage to the wound or other tissues near the wound by the tools on the robot. At the same time, both the first preset position and the compensation position are within the stroke of the axial motor, ensuring that the axial motor can complete the action.

[0042] The beneficial effects of this embodiment are as follows: For robots that require RCM-constrained movement during exit actions, the robot completes its attitude correction between a first preset position and a compensation position. During this correction, the robot does not experience significant descent, preventing damage to the wound or nearby tissues caused by a significant axial descent of the tools on the robot during RCM-constrained movement. Furthermore, both the first preset position and the compensation position are within the stroke of the axial motor, ensuring the axial motor can complete the movement and ultimately allowing the robot to safely exit the surgical area.

[0043] Example 2

[0044] like Figure 2 The following is an embodiment 2 of a control method for a robot exiting an action. The difference between embodiment 1 and embodiment 1 is that step S3 includes the following steps:

[0045] S31: The robot performs a posture correction action until the axial motor moves from the first preset position to the compensation position;

[0046] S32: Reset the axial motor to the first preset position;

[0047] S33: S31 and S32 are executed sequentially once or multiple times until the axial motor moves from the first preset position to the compensation position or during the process of the axial motor moving to the compensation position, the robot completes the posture correction.

[0048] Because the robot consumes axial motor travel when performing movements under RCM constraints, the remaining axial motor travel may be insufficient for proper orientation correction or, after orientation correction, insufficient for safe exit. Therefore, by limiting the compensation distance, the robot returns to a first preset position after each orientation correction, allowing the axial motor travel to be restored during the orientation correction process. Furthermore, the axial motor moves axially when returning to the first preset position. Thus, after orientation correction is complete, i.e., after completing the movement under RCM constraints, the robot's end effector leaves the surgical area where the wound is located. Then, using the remaining axial motor travel, it moves to a second preset position, moving the robot's end effector as far away from the work area as possible, completing the robot's exit action. Since the exit action is performed after the surgical robot completes the corresponding surgical action, the completion of the surgical action means that through multiple compensations, the tool can definitely be restored to its initial state.

[0049] Specifically, the first preset position is between and close to the first boundary position of the axial motor, located between the first and second boundary positions. The compensation stroke is less than or equal to the distance between the first preset position and the first boundary position, and less than the distance between the first preset position and the second boundary position. The first and second boundary positions are the upper and lower limits of the axial motor's stroke, respectively, with the upper limit being the maximum upward position the axial motor can reach. Since the axial motor can move upward or downward during the robot's posture correction action, setting the first preset position between the first and second boundary positions ensures that the axial motor can perform the posture correction action regardless of whether it moves upward or downward, as the compensation stroke remains within the axial motor's movable stroke range. The compensation stroke can be set according to actual conditions or pre-set. The compensation stroke value is a small value, so that even if the axial motor descends to the second boundary position by the value of the compensation stroke, it will not come into contact with the wound or other tissues around the wound. The closer the first preset position is to the first boundary position, the farther the end of the tool on the robot is from the wound, ensuring that the wound or other tissues near the wound are not touched during the robot's posture correction process. In this embodiment, the first preset position is at its maximum value when the compensation stroke is equal to the distance between the first preset position and the first boundary position.

[0050] In this embodiment, the second preset position is set to coincide with the first boundary position. After the posture is rectified, that is, after the robot's rotational movement under RCM constraints is completed, the axial motor moves to the first boundary position when it is furthest from the surgical area of ​​the wound, which is the safest state. Therefore, the second preset position can be set as the first boundary position.

[0051] Example 3

[0052] Embodiment 3 of a control method for robot exiting an action, based on Embodiment 1 or Embodiment 2, differs from Embodiment 1 or Embodiment 2 in that, as Figure 3 As shown, before moving the robot's axial motor to the first preset position, it is determined whether the robot's current pose meets the posture correction condition.

[0053] If the attitude correction condition is met, the exit operation is executed directly. The exit operation includes:

[0054] Move the robot's axial motor to the third preset position; the third preset position is a fixed value set by the user. When the robot exits, it first exits a fixed distance. The purpose is to make the tool leave the area where the surgery is performed, that is, to make the tool exit from the tissue, so as to prevent direct rotation from causing secondary damage to the affected area.

[0055] Instruct the robot to perform a posture correction action until it is fully correct. Since the robot has already met the posture correction conditions, it directly performs the posture correction action until it is fully correct.

[0056] If the attitude correction condition is not met, then execute S1-S4.

[0057] Determining whether the robot's current pose meets the attitude correction conditions specifically includes:

[0058] Obtain the robot's current pose; the current pose is obtained by acquiring the positions of all the robot's motors, and based on the positions of all the motors, the kinematics module outputs the position and posture of the tool's end effector corresponding to that position;

[0059] Based on the current pose and the initial pose, calculate the position of the axial motor when the robot moves from the initial pose to the pose of the end of the current tool. The position of the axial motor at this time is represented as the axial motor position after rotation compensation.

[0060] Calculate the difference between the current axial motor position and the axial motor position after rotation compensation as the required stroke for return to center.

[0061] If the remaining travel between the current axial motor position and the first boundary position is greater than the travel required for return to center, it means that the robot's current pose meets the posture return condition.

[0062] Example 4

[0063] An embodiment of a robotic arm control system, a control method for implementing the robot exit action of any of the above embodiments, includes a robot, a tool mounted on the robot, and a controller module. The controller module is electrically connected to the robot, acquires data from the robot's motors, and controls the robot's movement. The controller module includes a processor for performing calculations.

[0064] Example 5

[0065] An embodiment of a storage medium for storing a computer program; wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements a control method for robot exit actions according to any of the above embodiments.

[0066] Obviously, the above embodiments of the present invention are merely examples for clearly illustrating the present invention, and are not intended to limit the implementation of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can make other variations or modifications based on the above description. It is neither necessary nor possible to exhaustively describe all embodiments here. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, and improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included within the scope of protection of the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A control method for a robot exiting an action, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: Move the robot's axial motor to the first preset position; The compensation stroke of the axial motor is set to obtain the compensation position; wherein, the compensation position refers to the position reached by the axial motor after moving the compensation stroke from the first preset position; The robot is instructed to perform an attitude correction action between the first preset position and the compensation position until the attitude correction is completed. Move the robot's axial motor to the second preset position.

2. The control method for robot exit action according to claim 1, characterized in that, The process of instructing the robot to perform an attitude correction action between the first preset position and the compensation position until attitude correction is completed specifically involves: The robot's posture is corrected until the axial motor moves from the first preset position to the compensation position; Reset the axial motor to the first preset position; The robot's posture correction action is executed once or multiple times in a sequential cycle until the axial motor moves from the first preset position to the compensation position and the axial motor of the robot is reset to the first preset position, until the robot completes posture correction.

3. The control method for robot exit action according to claim 2, characterized in that, The process of "until the robot completes its posture return to normal" specifically refers to: After the axial motor moves from the first preset position to the compensation position, or during the process of the axial motor moving to the compensation position, the robot completes the posture correction.

4. The control method for robot exit action according to claim 2, characterized in that, The first preset position is between the first boundary position and the second boundary position of the axial motor; the compensation stroke is less than or equal to the distance between the first preset position and the first boundary position and less than the distance between the first preset position and the second boundary position.

5. The control method for robot exit action according to claim 4, characterized in that, The first preset position is close to the first boundary position.

6. The control method for robot exit action according to claim 4, characterized in that, The second preset position is consistent with the first boundary position.

7. The control method for robot exit action according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, Before moving the robot's axial motor to the first preset position, it is determined whether the robot's current pose meets the posture correction condition; if it does, the exit operation is executed directly.

8. The control method for robot exit action according to claim 7, characterized in that, The exit operation includes: Move the robot's axial motor to the third preset position; Instruct the robot to perform an attitude correction action until the attitude correction is completed.

9. A robot control system, characterized in that, A control method for implementing the robot exit action according to any one of claims 1-8 includes a robot, a tool mounted on the robot, and a controller module, wherein the controller module is electrically connected to the robot, acquires data of the robot's motors, and controls the movement of the robot; the controller module includes a processor for performing calculations.

10. A storage medium, characterized in that, Used to store computer programs; wherein the computer programs, when executed by a processor, implement the control method for robot exit actions as described in any one of claims 1-8.

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