Abstract
Recently, laparoscopic surgery has been performed in abdominal surgery, and a variety of robotic support systems for laparoscopic surgery have been developed. We have developed a multi-DOF robotic forceps manipulator using a novel omnidirectional bending mechanism termed double-screw-drive (DSD) mechanism, so far. However, the tip of this manipulator can move only on the hemisphere surface. In this paper, the DSD mechanism was improved so as to extend a motion space of the tip position, which is termed new DSD mechanism. Kinematics of the new DSD mechanism was analyzed, and equations to control the new DSD mechanism into the given bending posture were derived. In addition, experiment on position tracking control was carried out using a joystick-type manipulator for teleoperation.
