Surgical Haptic Feedback Staging Across Control State Changes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Tele-operated surgical systems face challenges in providing seamless haptic feedback transitions during control state changes, leading to disconcerting and unintuitive user experiences due to abrupt force changes or losses.
Innovation Solution
Implementing staged transitions between haptic feedback profiles when control states change, allowing for gradual adjustments in force magnitude and direction to maintain an intuitive haptic experience.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If haptic feedback is immediately changed when control state changes, then the system responds quickly to state changes, but the user experiences abrupt and disconcerting force transitions
Solution Approach 1:
The haptic feedback transition is segmented into multiple intermediate stages rather than a single abrupt change. The system divides the force transition into discrete steps (e.g., 25% increments) where each stage represents a portion of the total force change, allowing gradual adaptation while maintaining responsive system behavior.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-calculating and preparing intermediate force levels before executing the transition. When a control state change is detected, the system has already prepared the sequence of intermediate forces, allowing the transition to begin immediately without delay while still maintaining smooth progression through the force changes.
2Reliability
If haptic feedback is turned off during intermediate control states, then the system accurately reflects the lack of control, but the user experiences unexpected loss of force feedback
Solution Approach 1:
The system maintains haptic feedback during intermediate control states as a preliminary action, preparing the feedback mechanism to remain active while the actual control relationship is established or terminated. This prevents sudden feedback loss and allows the system to transition smoothly into accurate feedback representation regardless of the intermediate state's duration.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies beforehand cushioning by maintaining a baseline level of haptic feedback during intermediate states, cushioning against the potential shock of complete feedback loss. This cushioning mechanism ensures that even when control is not actively applied, the user does not experience abrupt disorientation from total feedback cessation.
3Ease of operation
If force feedback transitions are made gradual, then the user experiences smooth force changes, but the transition time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The transition is segmented into multiple discrete steps with predetermined time intervals. Each segment represents a portion of the total force change, and the system progresses through these segments at a controlled rate. This segmentation allows gradual, smooth transitions while managing the total transition time through optimized segment count and timing.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies dynamics by adjusting the transition characteristics based on the current state and required response. The force transition parameters (such as speed and intermediate steps) are dynamically adjusted to balance smoothness requirements with time constraints, allowing faster transitions when appropriate and more gradual transitions when user experience prioritizes smoothness.
Data Source
AI summary
A surgical system is provided comprising: an input device; and a controller for receiving control inputs from the input device and for providing haptic feedback at the input device, the controller configured to apply a staged transition from a first haptic feedback profile at the input device to a second haptic feedback profile at the input device.