JP-2026514422-A - System and method for target-guided coding based on low conductivity and high permeability

Abstract

A system and method for determining the angular position of a rotary joint in a robotic system are disclosed herein. The system and method uses a coil coupled to a first part of the rotary joint in a first position. A target having high permeability and low conductivity characteristics is coupled to a second part of the rotary joint. An oscillator circuit is communicatively coupled to the coil, and a computing unit is communicatively coupled to the oscillator circuit. The computing unit includes a processor configured or programmed to determine the position of the rotary joint based at least in part on a frequency associated with a signal received from the oscillator circuit. The frequency is at least in part on the positional relationship between the target and the coil.

Inventors

• ダニエル・フェイ
• オロド・バヴァ―ル
• ライアン・フィッシュ
• タイラー・マッカラム

Assignees

• ヴィカリアス・サージカル・インコーポレイテッド

Dates

Publication Date

20260511

Application Date

20240401

Priority Date

20230331

Claims (18)

1. A system for determining the angular position of a rotary joint, A coil coupled to the first part of the rotary joint in the first position, A target having high magnetic permeability and low electrical conductivity is coupled to the second part of the rotary joint, An oscillator circuit that is communicatively coupled to the aforementioned coil, A computing unit that is communicatively coupled to the aforementioned oscillator circuit, A system including a computing unit, which includes a processor configured or programmed to determine the position of the rotary joint based at least in part on a frequency associated with a signal received from the oscillator circuit, wherein the frequency is determined based at least in part on the positional relationship between the target and the coil.
2. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a second coil coupled to the joint at a second position.
3. A system for determining the rotational or translational position of a joint, A first coil connected to the first part of the joint at the first position, A target having high magnetic permeability and low electrical conductivity is coupled to the second part of the joint, A system comprising: an oscillator circuit communically coupled to the first coil, which generates a variable frequency correlated with the position as an output.
4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the joint has multiple degrees of freedom.
5. The system according to claim 3, further comprising one or more second coils coupled to the joint at a second position separate from the first position, wherein the one or more second coils are communicatively coupled to the oscillator circuit.
6. The system according to claim 5, wherein a subset of the one or more second coils is communicatively coupled to the same oscillator circuit through a switching mechanism.
7. The system according to claim 3, wherein the target is composed of two or more materials having different ratios of conductivity to magnetic permeability.
8. The system according to claim 3, further comprising a backer material for shielding the non-sensing side of the coil.
9. A computing unit that is communicatively coupled to the aforementioned oscillator circuit, The system according to claim 3, further comprising a computing unit including a processor configured or programmed to determine the angular position of the joint, at least in part on a first frequency associated with a first signal received from the oscillator circuit, wherein the first frequency is determined at least in part on the positional relationship between the target and the first coil.
10. A system for determining the displacement of a joint in a mechanism, A first coil that is connected to the first part of the joint at the first position, A target having high magnetic permeability and low electrical conductivity is coupled to the second part of the joint, An oscillator circuit that is communicatively coupled to the first coil, A computing unit that is communicatively coupled to the aforementioned oscillator circuit, A system including a computing unit, which includes a processor configured or programmed to determine the displacement of the joint of the mechanism, at least in part on a first frequency associated with a first signal received from the oscillator circuit, wherein the first frequency is determined at least in part on the positional relationship between the target and the first coil.
11. The system according to claim 10, wherein the target is in contact with a background material having low magnetic permeability and high electrical conductivity.
12. The system according to claim 10, wherein the target is made from a material with low magnetic permeability and high electrical conductivity, and the target is in contact with a background material having high magnetic permeability and low electrical conductivity.
13. One or more additional coils connected to the second portion of the joint, The present invention further includes one or more additional oscillator circuits that are communicatively coupled to one of the coils, The computing unit, which is communicatively coupled to one or more additional oscillator circuits, The system according to claim 10, 11, or 12, wherein the displacement of the joint of the mechanism is determined at least in part on a set of frequencies associated with the signal received from the oscillator circuit, and the set of frequencies is at least in part on the positional relationship between the target and the one or more additional coils.
14. The positional relationship between the two or more coils with respect to the shape of the target and the operating range of the joint is, The signal changes in substantially the same manner as the joint displacement, and the computing unit removes outliers, averages the signal, and uses the results, The system according to claim 13, wherein the displacement of the joint of the mechanism is determined, and the signals from their respective oscillator circuits are provided to provide redundancy against failure and resistance to disturbances that induce changes in the expected differences between signals.
15. The positional relationship of the two or more coils with respect to the shape of the target and the operating range of the joint provides the signals from their respective oscillator circuits such that the signals change in a manner substantially opposite to the joint displacement. The computing unit combines the signals by measuring the difference between them, and uses the result to The system according to claim 13, wherein the displacement of the joint is determined, thereby providing resistance to disturbances that induce similar changes in the signal due to noise or non-idealism of the joint or drift of the oscillator due to temperature.
16. The positional relationship of the two or more coils with respect to the target shape and the operating range of the joint is such that the signals are continuous and periodic, no longer have a one-to-one mapping of the signals to the joint displacement, and there is ambiguity within the period of such signals, provided by the continuous and periodic signals from their respective oscillator circuits. The computing unit, By using the relative positional relationship between the coils to determine the phase offset of the signal generated by each oscillator, and by using the expected phase offset of the signal combined with the actual received signal, The system according to claim 13, wherein the signals are combined by using additional signals to resolve the periodic ambiguity of any one of the signals and to determine the displacement of the joint within a certain period.
17. The computing unit monitors the number of cycles of the elapsed periodic signal and counts the total or partial cycles of the joint motion in one direction as positive and the total or partial cycles of the joint motion in the other direction as negative, so that it can determine the total displacement of the joint from the starting point. The system according to claim 16, wherein the computing unit receives an input indicating the starting point as an absolute reference for the displacement of the joint.
18. The system according to claim 14, 15, 16, or 17, wherein the signals are combined to determine the displacement of the joint of the mechanism, in accordance with the advantages of each such system in use.

Description

Cross-reference of related applications: This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/456,390, filed on 31 March 2023, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. A surgical robotic system enables a user (also referred to herein as "operator" or "user") to perform tasks and functions during a procedure by using robotic control devices. Positioning sensors are used within one or more robotic arms of the surgical robotic system and output signals to a processor that can be used to determine the position of one or more robotic arms within the patient's cavity during a procedure. Positioning sensors enable surgical robotic systems to determine the position of one or more robotic arm joints, which are then made available to the user. One conventional type of positioning sensor is known as a Hall effect sensor. U.S. Patent No. 10285765International Application No. PCT/US2020/39203U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0076199International Application No. PCT/US2021/058820U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0221102International Publication No. 2022/094000International Publication No. 2021/231402International Publication No. 2021/159409 A surgical robotic system is presented. The surgical robotic system can determine the angular position of a robotic arm joint. The surgical robotic system may include a first coil attached to the robotic joint in a first position, a second coil attached to the robotic joint in a second position, a target attached to the robotic arm joint, an oscillator circuit communicatively coupled to the first and second coils, and a computing unit communicatively coupled to the oscillator circuit. The computing unit includes a processor. The processor may be configured or programmed to read one or more instructions stored in memory to determine the angular position of the robotic arm joint, at least partially based on a first frequency associated with a first signal received from the oscillator circuit. The first frequency is at least partially based on the positional relationship between the target and the first and second coils. Embodiments taught herein of one or more coils combined with a low-conductivity and high-permeability target and one or more oscillator circuits can sense the axial distance of the target relative to a sensing coil, as well as its rotational or translational position. In some embodiments, the target may include a first material having an absolute permeability greater than 100 Henrys/meter (H/m) and a second material having an electrical conductivity less than 2 × 10⁻² Siemens/meter (S/m). These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood by referring to the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, where similar reference numerals refer to similar elements throughout the various figures. The drawings illustrate the principles of the present invention and show relative dimensions, although not to exact scale. Figure 1 schematically illustrates an exemplary surgical robot system according to some embodiments.Figure 2A is an exemplary perspective view of a patient cart, including a robotic support system coupled to a robotic subsystem of a surgical robotic system, according to one embodiment.Figure 2B is an exemplary perspective view of an exemplary operator console of a surgical robotic system of the present disclosure, according to one embodiment.Figure 3A schematically shows an exemplary side view of a surgical robot system that performs surgical procedures inside an internal cavity of a target, according to one embodiment.Figure 3B schematically shows an exemplary top view of a surgical robot system that performs surgical procedures within the internal cavity of the object shown in Figure 3A, according to one embodiment.Figure 4A is an exemplary perspective view of a single robotic arm subsystem according to one embodiment.Figure 4B is an exemplary side perspective view of a single robot arm of the single robot arm subsystem shown in Figure 4A, according to one embodiment.Figure 5 is an exemplary perspective front view of a camera assembly and a robot arm assembly according to some embodiments.Figure 6A is an exemplary perspective view of a left-hand controller for use in an operator console of a surgical robot system, according to one embodiment.Figure 6B is an exemplary perspective view of a right-hand controller for use in an operator console of a surgical robot system, according to one embodiment.Figure 7A is an exemplary perspective view of a left-hand controller for use in an operator console of a surgical robot system, according to one embodiment.Figure 7B is an exemplary perspective view of a right-hand controller for use in an operator console of a surgical robot system, according to one embodiment.Figure 8A is an exemplary perspective view of a left-hand controller for use in an operator console of a surgical ro