Robotic Arm Joint Adjustment Near Abnormal Operating Areas

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing methods for adjusting robotic arms during minimally invasive surgery either require interrupting the surgery or involve complex calculations with high errors, compromising safety and reliability.

Innovation Solution

A method that determines adjustment directions and positions for redundant and task joints of a robotic arm to safely move it away from abnormal operating areas without interrupting the surgery, using modules for direction determination, position calculation, and position adjustment.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the robotic arm is adjusted using traditional methods to move away from abnormal areas, then the robotic arm safety is improved, but the surgery must be interrupted and both operator and robotic arm need resetting

Engineering Contradiction:
Improverobotic arm safetyVSAvoidsurgery interruption time
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system pre-calculates and stores the null space basis matrix and related transformation matrices before surgery begins. When the robotic arm enters an abnormal area, the pre-computed matrices enable immediate adjustment without interrupting surgery, as the calculation framework is already in place to rapidly determine joint adjustment directions.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces traditional mechanical reset procedures with a computational control system. Instead of physically resetting the robotic arm and operator position, the system uses null space projection algorithms to mathematically compute adjustment directions that guide the robotic arm out of abnormal areas while maintaining surgical continuity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Reliability

If the avoidance method based on null space of velocity Jacobian is used, then the robotic arm is controlled to stay in safe area, but the calculation process becomes complex with large calculation errors and poor anti-interference ability

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesurgery safetyVSAvoidcalculation process complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the robotic arm control into two independent components: task joints that perform surgical operations and redundant joints that handle safety constraints. By separating the control space using null space projection, the system simplifies calculations by only computing adjustments for redundant joints while leaving task joints unaffected, thereby reducing overall computational complexity and improving numerical stability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system transforms the control problem from Cartesian space to joint space using pre-computed transformation matrices. This parameter transformation allows the use of simpler linear algebra operations (matrix multiplication and projection) instead of complex real-time optimization, significantly reducing calculation complexity and improving numerical accuracy while maintaining safety constraints.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentEP4549102A1Robotic arm adjustment method, apparatus, electronic device and storage medium
Publication Date: 2025.05.07 RONOVO (SHANGHAI) MEDICAL SCI & TECH LTD
  • EP4549102A1 patent drawingFigure 1~3A
  • EP4549102A1 patent drawingFigure 3B~3D
  • EP4549102A1 patent drawingFigure 4

AI summary

Disclosed in the present application are a robotic arm adjustment method, an apparatus, an electronic device and a storage medium. The method comprises: when it is determined that a robotic arm is located within or near an abnormal operating area, determining an adjustment direction for each redundant joint of a plurality of joints of the robotic arm; on the basis of a redundant joint position of each redundant joint at the current moment and the adjustment direction of each redundant joint, determining a first adjustment position of each redundant joint at a next moment; on the basis of each first adjustment position, determining a second adjustment position of each task joint of the plurality of joints except the redundant joints; and performing position adjustment on the robotic arm on the basis of the first adjustment position of each redundant joint and the second adjustment position of each task joint.