A surgical robot , comprising: an imaging system comprising at least one stereo camera; a processor in communication with said imaging system ; a manipulation system in communication with said processor the manipulation system including a manipulation tool ; and a visual display in communication with said processor ; wherein said processor is operable to: instruct the manipulation system to palpate an area of an environment with the manipulation tool ; receive tool-environment interaction data for an interaction between the manipulation tool and the environment during the palpation; use an environment model and apply the tool-environment interaction data to the environment model to estimate unknown parameters of the environment model; calculate a mechanical property estimate for the area of the environment based on the estimated unknown parameters of the environmental model; determine contours of the environment based on an environment image from said at least one stereo camera; create a composite image comprising a mechanical property map of the mechanical property estimate for the area of the environment overlaid on the environment image from said at least one stereo camera so that the mechanical property map corresponds to the contours of the environment; and output the composite image on said visual display . an imaging system comprising at least one stereo camera; a processor in communication with said imaging system ; a manipulation system in communication with said processor the manipulation system including a manipulation tool ; and a visual display in communication with said processor ; wherein said processor is operable to: instruct the manipulation system to palpate an area of an environment with the manipulation tool ; receive tool-environment interaction data for an interaction between the manipulation tool and the environment during the palpation; use an environment model and apply the tool-environment interaction data to the environment model to estimate unknown parameters of the environment model; calculate a mechanical property estimate for the area of the environment based on the estimated unknown parameters of the environmental model; determine contours of the environment based on an environment image from said at least one stereo camera; create a composite image comprising a mechanical property map of the mechanical property estimate for the area of the environment overlaid on the environment image from said at least one stereo camera so that the mechanical property map corresponds to the contours of the environment; and output the composite image on said visual display . instruct the manipulation system to palpate an area of an environment with the manipulation tool ; receive tool-environment interaction data for an interaction between the manipulation tool and the environment during the palpation; use an environment model and apply the tool-environment interaction data to the environment model to estimate unknown parameters of the environment model; calculate a mechanical property estimate for the area of the environment based on the estimated unknown parameters of the environmental model; determine contours of the environment based on an environment image from said at least one stereo camera; create a composite image comprising a mechanical property map of the mechanical property estimate for the area of the environment overlaid on the environment image from said at least one stereo camera so that the mechanical property map corresponds to the contours of the environment; and output the composite image on said visual display . <EOS>