Design and experimental evaluation of a tendon-driven minimally invasive surgical robotic tool with antagonistic control

Abstract

The design, implementation and experimental evaluation of a minimally invasive surgical robotic instrument is presented in this article. The tool is constructed using rapid prototyping techniques and each degree-of-freedom is actuated via an antagonistic tendon driven mechanism using servo motors. The accompanying software runs under the Robot Operating System framework. The kinematics of the tool are discussed and the efficiency of the system is investigated in experimental studies, which are showcased in order to assess its potential use in a clinical environment.