Patent ID: 8054752

Claim:
A robotic surgical system comprising: a first node configured to generate and transmit a data packet comprising control information and message information, wherein the control information comprises a fault bit that is set by the first node and that indicates a system fault condition exists; a second node configured to receive and retransmit the transmitted data packet without software intervention; a third node configured to receive the retransmitted data packet from the second node; a first robotic arm joint; a second robotic arm joint; and fault reaction hardware; wherein the fault reaction hardware is configured to place the system in a safe state that includes locking a position of the first robotic arm joint as a result of the second node receiving the transmitted data packet and detecting the set fault bit; and wherein the fault reaction hardware is configured to place the system in a safe state that includes locking a position of the second robotic arm joint as a result of the third node receiving the retransmitted data packet from the second node and detecting the set fault bit.