DESIGN AND PROTOTYPING OF A THREE DEGREES OF FREEDOM ROBOTIC WRIST MECHANISM FOR A ROBOTIC SURGERY SYSTEM

Abstract

TAOMING LIUIn minimally invasive surgery, the dexterity of surgical tools is drastically constrained due to a small entry point on the body.Robot-assisted surgical tool systems can be used to overcome this drawback.In this thesis, a 3 degrees-of-freedom (DOF) robotic arm with 6-axis force feedback for minimally invasive surgery is presented.This prototype contains a 2 DOF spherical wrist, which can pitch 90 and yaw 35 , and a gripper with 6 mm diameter and 32 mm length.This end-effector is actuated using DC motors by means of a cable drive mechanism.A 6-axis force/torque sensor allows accurate measurement of end-effector forces.x