Stable & precise operation of soft surgical robots using image-guided variable impedance control for guaranteed patient safety

This project aims to trigger a paradigm shift in soft surgical robot (SSR) control that will significantly enhance patient safety during computer-assisted ablation and laparoscopy, thereby further enhancing the viability of SSRs and promoting their wider adoption. Despite being compliant during physical interaction, SSRs are also highly articulated/underactuated mechanical systems, which renders their positioning control a challenging undertaking. Existing SSR control methodologies either revolve around overly complex/accurate continuum dynamics models (unsuitable for real-time control) or on simplified, computationally tractable representations involving concatenated mass-spring-damper models. Existing controllers relying upon the latter models completely overlook the underactuated states, thereby impinging on positioning accuracy, leading to slower and less precise operation of SSRs. This project shall investigate how scalable algorithms, revolving around models/controllers explicitly accounting for underactuation, in conjunction with image-guided variable impedance control, can augment SSR positioning accuracy, interactional performance, and safety, during the execution of computer-assisted ablation, and laparoscopy, operations.