This project investigates a fundamentally new robotic manipulation approach for minimally-invasive surgical procedures. The approach combines flexible, actively actuated continuum segments with small, rigid-link joints -- retaining the safety advantages of flexible continuum manipulators while achieving the performance advantages of traditional rigid manipulators. The combination of performance and inherent safety is an essential element in the emerging area of co-robotic surgical applications. The overall approach is referred to as interleaved continuum-rigid manipulation. While interleaved continuum-rigid manipulation offers an attractive, intuitive approach, its apparent simplicity belies the obstacles which must be overcome prior to successful realization. This project will address these obstacles though a coordinated effort in design, modeling, and control. The design effort will seek to address the significant technical challenges of the interleaved manipulation approach including rigid-link joint actuation challenges and rigid-link joint to flexible segment drive-train coupling. The modeling investigation will establish a toolset from which the underlying behaviors of the interleaved manipulation approach can be understood. The controls investigation will seek to develop control strategies appropriate for the hybrid flexible-rigid system envisioned. Evaluation will include performance and safety-metric evaluation as well as bench top clinical evaluation, focusing on the execution of simulated clinical tasks.
If successful, the results of the research will lead to improvements in manipulation capability for use in highly technical and safety critical minimally-invasive co-robotic surgical procedures. Specifically, interleaved continuum-rigid manipulation will enable levels of performance required for cooperative manipulation tasks in emerging co-robotic surgical techniques while maintaining safety. New classes of interventional techniques for neurological, cardiac, and other high risk procedures will be possible, resulting in improved outcomes and reduced morbidity. In addition, the extension to larger scale manipulators could have significant impact in other co-robotic application areas including search and rescue robotics, light-manufacturing, and home and healthcare assistive robotics. To facilitate wide dissemination of the project results, major findings will be published in both conference and peer-reviewed journals. Additionally, detailed results, including design and analysis data, will be made available online. Finally, the project will have a strong training focus by providing an integrated research and educational environment for graduate and undergraduate student researchers - including those in underrepresented groups through established University fellowship programs.
