Collision avoidance in surgical robotics based on detection of contact information

1 . A medical robotic system, comprising:

a first kinematic chain;

one or more sensors positioned to detect one or more parameters of contact with one or more portions of the first kinematic chain, the contact including actual contact between the one or more portions of the first kinematic chain and another object;

one or more processors in communication with the one or more sensors; and

memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause adjustment of a configuration of the first kinematic chain from a first configuration to a second configuration based on a constraint determined from the one or more parameters of contact with the first kinematic chain detected by the one or more sensors after the actual contact between the one or more portions of the first kinematic chain and the other object has occurred;

wherein the one or more parameters of contact form part of a probabilistic map.

2 . The medical robotic system of claim 1 , wherein the first kinematic chain includes a first robotic arm.

3 . The medical robotic system of claim 2 , wherein:

the first kinematic chain includes an adjustable arm support on which the first robotic arm is positioned; and

the adjustment of the configuration of the first kinematic chain includes changing a position of the adjustable arm support.

4 . The medical robotic system of any of claims 1 , wherein:

the first kinematic chain includes one or more links and an end effector; and

the one or more sensors include at least one of: a force/torque sensor positioned at a base of the first kinematic chain, a force/torque sensor positioned adjacent to a joint between the one or more links and the end effector, or one or more contact sensors on the one or more links.

5 . The medical robotic system of any of claims 1 , wherein the contact with the first kinematic chain includes contact between the first kinematic chain and an object that is not part of the medical robotic system.

6 . The medical robotic system of any of claims 1 , further comprising:

one or more kinematic chains not in contact with one or more portions of the first kinematic chain,

wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause adjustment of configurations of the one or more kinematic chains based on the constraint determined from the one or more parameters of contact with the first kinematic chain detected by the one or more sensors.

7 . The medical robotic system of any of claims 1 , wherein the constraint is modeled as a potential field based at least in part on the one or more parameters of contact detected by the one or more sensors.

8 . The medical robotic system of claim 7 , wherein the potential field is also based on a probability of detecting a contact by a respective sensor of the one or more sensors.

9 . The medical robotic system of any of claims 1-8 , wherein the one or more parameters of the contact include one or more selected from a group consisting of: force information of the contact, location information of the contact, and direction information of the contact.

10 . The medical robotic system of any of claims 1 , further comprising updating the constraint and/or building a constraint map based on one or more parameters of a subsequent contact with the first kinematic chain detected by the one or more sensors.

11 . The medical robotic system of claim 1 , wherein the probabilistic map is determined based on the confidence of detection of a contact.

12 . The medical robotic system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more parameters of contact include information about whether the contact is with a moving or fixed object, and/or location information of the contact.

13 . The medical robotic system of claim 12 , wherein the stored instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to update the probabilistic map based on a finite time of constraint.

14 . The medical robotic system of claim 12 , wherein the stored instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to update the probabilistic map based on a changing probability of constraint.

15 . The medical robotic system of any of claims 1 , wherein the adjustment of the configuration of the first kinematic chain from the first configuration to the second configuration utilizes null space of the first kinematic chain.

16 . The medical robotic system of any of claim 1 , wherein the first kinematic chain is kinematically redundant.

17 . A method performed by an electronic device in communication with a medical robotic system including a first kinematic chain and one or more sensors positioned to detect one or more parameters of contact with the first kinematic chain, the method comprising:

receiving one or more parameters of contact with the first kinematic chain detected by the one or more sensors; the one or more parameters of contact being associated with contact that has occurred between the first kinematic chain and another object, wherein the one or more parameters of contact form part of a probabilistic map;

determining a constraint associated with the first kinematic chain based on the one or more parameters of contact with the first kinematic chain and the probabilistic map; and

causing adjustment of a configuration of the first kinematic chain from a first configuration to a second configuration based on the constraint.

18 . The method of any of claims 17 , further comprising causing adjustment of configurations of one or more kinematic chains not in contact with one or more portions of the first kinematic chain based on the constraint determined from the one or more parameters of contact with the first kinematic chain detected by the one or more sensors.

19 . An electronic device, comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

receive one or more parameters of contact, detected by the one or more sensors, with a first kinematic chain of a medical robotic system, the one or more parameters of contact with contact that has occurred between the first kinematic chain and another object, wherein the one or more parameters of contact form part of a probabilistic map;

determine a constraint associated with the first kinematic chain based on the one or more parameters of contact with the first kinematic chain and the probabilistic map; and

cause adjustment of a configuration of the first kinematic chain from a first configuration to a second configuration based on the constraint.