Break-Away Joint Clutching for Manual Robotic Arm Setup
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing minimally invasive robotic surgical systems face challenges in maneuverability, ease of setup, space utilization, and mechanical complexity, with potential collisions between robotic devices during use, necessitating improved efficiency and user interface for faster and easier setup.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of kinematic linkage structures with actively driven or passive joints, featuring a brake or joint drive system that allows manual articulation beyond a threshold torque, and a processor that facilitates movement to a desired configuration, inhibiting inadvertent articulation, and providing a detent-like manual articulation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual articulation of linkage is freely allowed, then ease of setup and maneuverability improve, but inadvertent movement and collision risk increase
Solution Approach 1:
The brake system dynamically transitions between engaged and disengaged states based on operational mode. During setup, the brake is disengaged to allow free manual articulation of the linkage. During surgery, the brake engages to prevent inadvertent movement, creating a dynamic safety mechanism that adapts to operational needs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the friction parameter of the brake mechanism between two states: low friction (disengaged) during setup to enable easy manual movement, and high friction (engaged) during surgery to prevent unwanted articulation. This parameter switching resolves the contradiction between ease of setup and collision prevention.
2Reliability
If brake system is always engaged to prevent inadvertent movement, then safety improves, but manual setup and repositioning become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The brake system is designed to be dynamically controllable, switching between engaged and disengaged states. The controller receives input about operational mode and automatically adjusts brake engagement accordingly, making the system safe during surgery but easy to setup when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically manages brake engagement based on operational context without requiring manual intervention. The controller monitors the operational mode and self-adjusts the brake state, eliminating the need for operators to manually adjust safety settings while maintaining both safety and ease of setup.
3Manufacturing precision
If detent mechanism is added to provide stable positioning, then positioning precision improves, but mechanical complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The brake system acts as an intermediary mechanism between the operator and the linkage. Instead of adding complex detent mechanisms to the linkage itself, the brake provides stable positioning by maintaining controlled friction, simplifying the overall mechanical design while achieving precise positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical detent mechanisms with a friction-based brake system controlled by a controller. This substitution reduces mechanical complexity by using a simpler friction interface instead of complex mechanical engagement features, while still achieving stable positioning through controlled friction forces.
Data Source
AI summary
User-initiated break-away clutching includes a robotic system having a joint, a brake or drive unit coupled to the joint, and a control system coupled with the brake or drive unit. The control system is configured to determine a first manual effort applied to the joint; inhibit, using the brake or drive unit, manual articulation of the joint in response to the first manual effort being below an articulation threshold; facilitate, using the brake or drive unit, the manual articulation of the joint in response to the first manual effort exceeding the articulation threshold; and inhibit, using the brake or drive unit, further manual articulation of the joint in response to a determination that a speed of the manual articulation of the joint is below a speed threshold.