Development Of A Real-Time Simulink Based Robotic System To Study Force Feedback Mechanism During Instrument-Object Interaction

Abstract

Robotic surgery is used to enhance minimally invasive<br> surgical procedure. It provides greater degree of freedom for surgical<br> tools but lacks of haptic feedback system to provide sense of touch to<br> the surgeon. Surgical robots work on master-slave operation, where<br> user is a master and robotic arms are the slaves. Current, surgical<br> robots provide precise control of the surgical tools, but heavily rely<br> on visual feedback, which sometimes cause damage to the inner<br> organs. The goal of this research was to design and develop a realtime<br> Simulink based robotic system to study force feedback<br> mechanism during instrument-object interaction. Setup includes three<br> VelmexXSlide assembly (XYZ Stage) for three dimensional<br> movement, an end effector assembly for forceps, electronic circuit for<br> four strain gages, two Novint Falcon 3D gaming controllers,<br> microcontroller board with linear actuators, MATLAB and Simulink<br> toolboxes. Strain gages were calibrated using Imada Digital Force<br> Gauge device and tested with a hard-core wire to measure<br> instrument-object interaction in the range of 0-35N. Designed<br> Simulink model successfully acquires 3D coordinates from two<br> Novint Falcon controllers and transfer coordinates to the XYZ stage<br> and forceps. Simulink model also reads strain gages signal through<br> 10-bit analog to digital converter resolution of a microcontroller<br> assembly in real time, converts voltage into force and feedback the<br> output signals to the Novint Falcon controller for force feedback<br> mechanism. Experimental setup allows user to change forward<br> kinematics algorithms to achieve the best-desired movement of the<br> XYZ stage and forceps. This project combines haptic technology<br> with surgical robot to provide sense of touch to the user controlling<br> forceps through machine-computer interface.