Medical robotic system providing sensory feedback indicating a difference between a commanded state and a preferred pose of an articulated instrument

1. A method for controlling movement of a medical device, the method comprising:

receiving, at a processor, a commanded state of a medical device from an input device;

receiving, at the processor, a preferred pose of the medical device from a pose selector, the preferred pose being different, at a time of pose selection, than the commanded state and a current pose of the medical device, the preferred pose being one of a default pose and an operator defined pose, the default pose fixed for the medical device, the operator defined pose having been defined by an operator of the input device; and

the processor:

controlling movement of the medical device from the current pose of the medical device in response to the commanded state, and

commanding a biasing force to be applied to the input device such that the biasing force increases when a difference between the commanded state and the preferred pose increases.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the processor commands the biasing force to be applied to the input device so as to indicate a weighted difference between the commanded state and the preferred pose.

3. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising:

receiving, at the processor, weighting coefficients to be used by the processor for commanding the biasing force to be applied to the input device so as to indicate the weighted difference between the commanded state and the preferred pose.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the weighting coefficients are received by processor from a stiffness selector which is configured to enable the operator of the input device to disable the biasing force to be applied to the input device by providing all weighting coefficients as zero values.

5. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the weighting coefficients are received by processor from a stiffness selector which is configured to enable the operator of the input device to effectively lock the medical device in the preferred pose by providing all weighting coefficients as one values.

6. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the weighting coefficients are received by processor from a stiffness selector which is operative by the operator of the input device so as to allow the operator to select one or more of the weighting coefficients to be used by the processor for commanding the biasing force to be applied to the input device so as to indicate the weighted difference between the commanded state and the preferred pose.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

the processor:

commanding an adjustment to the biasing force to be applied to the input device so as to indicate a difference between the commanded state and a modified preferred pose, the modified preferred pose determined by tracking movement of the medical device in an allowable direction relative to the preferred pose.

8. The method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the operator defined pose corresponds to a prior pose of the medical device which was designated by the operator of the input device to be the preferred pose of the medical device.

9. The method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the processor commands the biasing force to be applied to the input device so that the biasing force provides a spring-type force feedback on the input device when the input device is generating a commanded state that is different than the preferred pose.

10. The method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the processor commands the biasing force to be applied to the input device so that the biasing force urges the operator of the input device to move the input device so as to command the medical device to be moved to the preferred pose.

11. The method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the processor commands the biasing force to be applied to the input device so that the biasing force comprises a restoring force and a restoring torque, the restoring force being exerted against translational movement of the input device that commands the medical device away from the preferred pose, the restoring torque being exerted against rotational movement of the input device that commands the medical device away from the preferred pose.

12. The method according to claim 11 ,

wherein the processor commands the biasing force to be applied to the input device so that at least one of the restoring force and the restoring torque is generated according to a spring function.

13. The method according to claim 12 ,

wherein the spring function is characterized by a deadband so that the processor does not command a biasing force to be applied to the input device so as to indicate a difference between the commanded state and the preferred pose when the commanded state is within a threshold distance of the preferred pose.

14. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the spring function is characterized by friction compensation.

15. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the spring function is non-linear.

16. A method for controlling movement of a medical device, the method comprising:

receiving, at a processor, a commanded state of a medical device from an input device;

receiving, at the processor, a preferred pose of the medical device from a pose selector, the preferred pose being different, at a time of pose selection, than the commanded state and a current pose of the medical device, the preferred pose being one of a default pose and an operator defined pose, the default pose fixed for the medical device, the operator defined pose having been defined by an operator of the input device; and

the processor:

generating a modified commanded state by modifying the commanded state to accommodate a virtual constraint on movement of the medical device;

controlling movement of the medical device from the current pose of the medical device in response to the modified commanded state, and

commanding a biasing force to be applied to the input device such that the biasing force increases when a difference between the modified commanded state and the preferred pose increases.

17. The method according to claim 16 , further comprising:

the processor:

commanding an adjustment to the biasing force to be applied to the input device so as to indicate a difference between the modified commanded state and a modified preferred pose, the modified preferred pose determined by tracking movement of the medical device in an allowable direction relative to the preferred pose.

18. The method according to claim 16 ,

wherein the processor commands the biasing force to be applied to the input device so that the biasing force urges the operator of the input device to move the input device so as to command the medical device to be moved to the preferred pose.

19. A method for controlling movement of a medical device, the method comprising:

receiving, at a processor, a commanded state of a medical device from an input device;

receiving, at the processor, a preferred pose of the medical device from a pose selector, the preferred pose being different, at a time of pose selection, than the commanded state and a current pose of the medical device, the preferred pose being one of a default pose and an operator defined pose, the default pose fixed for the medical device, the operator defined pose having been defined by an operator of the input device; and

the processor:

generating a modified commanded state by modifying the commanded state to accommodate a physical constraint on movement of the medical device;

controlling movement of the medical device from the current pose of the medical device in response to the modified commanded state, and

commanding a biasing force to be applied to the input device such that the biasing force increases when a difference between the modified commanded state and the preferred pose increases.

20. The method according to claim 19 ,

wherein the processor commands the biasing force to be applied to the input device so that the biasing force urges the operator of the input device to move the input device so as to command the medical device to be moved to the preferred pose.