Patent ID: 8749190

Claim:
A tele-surgical manipulator system comprising: a movable surgical instrument holder; a surgical instrument mountable to the surgical instrument holder, the surgical instrument comprising an end effector; a manipulator, the manipulator comprising an arm assembly pivotally coupled to the proximal base at a driven first pivotal joint and pivotally coupled to the instrument holder, wherein the arm assembly includes: a first link, a second link, a driven pivotal arm joint coupling the first link to the second link to vary an angle between a longitudinal axis of the first link and a longitudinal axis of the second link around a pivotal axis, and a driven first roll joint between the base and pivotal arm joint, wherein the first roll joint has a first roll axis extending along the longitudinal axis of the first link, the arm assembly being configured such that the arm assembly distal of the first roll joint has a range of configurations for a given state of the surgical instrument holder and movement of the first roll joint provides an additional degree of freedom of the arm assembly; and a processor coupled to the manipulator and configured to: determine a desired movement of the end effector within a surgical space in response to receiving a command to move the end effector, determine first calculated driven joint movements to effect the desired movement of the end effector, determine a desired movement of an intermediate portion of the arm assembly between the first roll joint and the instrument holder so as to (i) inhibit collisions between the manipulator and an adjacent arm, adjacent equipment, or adjacent personnel, and/or (ii) to increase a range of motion of the manipulator, and/or (iii) to avoid a joint limit or a singularity of a joint of the manipulator, and determine second calculated driven joint movements that include movement of the first roll joint to effect the desired movement of the intermediate portion of the arm assembly of the manipulator.