Patent ID: 8838270

Claim:
A method comprising: transmitting a first data packet from a first node of a robotic surgical system to a second node of the robotic surgical system, the first data packet including a fault indication that a fault exists in the robotic surgical system; receiving the first data packet including the fault indication at the second node; placing the second node into a safe state of the second node in response to receiving the fault indication, wherein placing the second node into the safe state of the second node includes locking a position of a first robotic arm joint in the robotic surgical system without software intervention; transmitting a second data packet from the second node to a third node of the robotic surgical system in response to receiving the first data packet, the second data packet including the fault indication; receiving the second data packet including the fault indication at the third node; and placing the third node into a safe state of the third node in response to receiving the fault indication, wherein placing the third node into the safe state of the third node includes locking a position of a second robotic arm joint in the robotic surgical system without software intervention.