Research on Variable Workspace of Continuum Robot for Organ Protection and Multi-arm Cooperation

Abstract

Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has gradually become the preferred method of surgery due to its advantages of less trauma and faster recovery. However, the small and complex surgical area places high demands on the performance of the robot and the skill level of the doctor. In order to avoid the damage of other healthy organs with surgical instruments during the operation, a variable workspace of a continuum robot is designed in this paper. The information of the dynamic transformation of the surgical environment is used to continuously update the workspace of the continuum robot. For healthy vital organs, the workspace can actively shield its corresponding posture. Experiments have verified that for a variety of complex surgical scenarios, the variable workspace can simply and effectively implement the safety protection of healthy organs, and can avoid interference when multiple arms work together.