Sensors for touch-free control of surgical robotic systems

1. A control system for surgical robots based on proximity sensing, the control system comprising:

a proximity sensor coupled to a component of a surgical robot, the component of the surgical robot comprising a table, a robotic arm coupled to the table, or a surgical tool mounted on the robotic arm, the proximity sensor configured to sense a linear movement and an angular movement of a nearby controlling object, and wherein the proximity sensor comprises a first set of capacitive lines and a second set of capacitive lines arranged on a support member such that they are operable to detect the linear movement along an x-axis and a y-axis and the angular movement, and wherein the angular movement comprises a rotational movement about a z-axis, an x-axis, and a y-axis; and

a processor configured to drive the component of the surgical robot to follow the linear movement or the angular movement of the controlling object sensed by the proximity sensor.

2. The control system of claim 1 wherein the linear movement is parallel to the z-axis, the x-axis or the y-axis.

3. The control system of claim 1 wherein the proximity sensor is operable to sense a movement of the nearby controlling object according to at least five degrees of freedom.

4. The control system of claim 1 wherein the component of the surgical robot is the robotic arm and the support member is a cosmetic panel of the robotic arm that faces away from the surgical table.

5. The control system of claim 4 wherein the first set of capacitive lines and the second set of capacitive lines are printed onto the cosmetic panel of the robotic arm.

6. The control system of claim 1 wherein the component of the surgical robot is the table and the support member forms a vertically oriented side panel of the table that connects to a horizontally oriented patient support surface of the table.

7. The control system of claim 1 wherein the proximity sensor further comprises a plurality of capacitive pads arranged in a circular shape, wherein the plurality of capacitive pads are configured to detect the angular movement of the controlling object around the circular shape.

8. A surgical robotic system comprising:

a table and a surgical robotic arm coupled to the table, the surgical robotic arm comprising a plurality of robotic arm links and a plurality of joints operable to move according to multiple degrees of freedom;

a proximity sensor printed on a cosmetic panel of at least one robotic arm link of the plurality of robotic arm links of the surgical robotic arm or the table, the proximity sensor comprising a first sensing pad, a second sensing pad and a third sensing pad each having a triangular shape and arranged in a circular shape such that they are operable to detect a linear movement and an angular movement of a nearby controlling object prior to contact with the table or the at least one robotic arm link of the surgical robotic arm; and

a processor configured to drive a movement of the table or the at least one robotic arm link based on the movement of the controlling object.

9. The surgical robotic system of claim 8 wherein the linear movement of the controlling object is a movement in a direction parallel to a z-axis, an x-axis or a y-axis and the angular movement comprises a rotational movement about the z-axis, the x-axis or the y-axis.

10. The surgical robotic system of claim 8 wherein the plurality of sensing pads are capacitive sensing pads printed on the cosmetic panel of the table or the surgical robotic arm.

11. The surgical robotic system of claim 8 wherein the proximity sensor is coupled to the surgical robotic arm and the processor is operable to control the movement of the surgical robotic arm according to at least four degrees of freedom that are in parallel to the detected movement of the controlling object and maintain a same distance from the controlling object.

12. The surgical robotic system of claim 8 wherein the linear movement and the angular movement of the nearby controlling object corresponds to a gesture and the processor is operable to recognize the gesture as a predetermined gesture corresponding to a predetermined movement and cause the predetermined movement of the table or the at least one robotic arm link.

13. The surgical robotic system of claim 8 wherein the proximity sensor is coupled to the at least one robotic arm link, and the processor is operable to cause a movement of the at least one robotic arm link based on the movement of the controlling object, and the processor is further operable to cause another robotic arm link of the plurality of robotic arm links to move based on the at least one robotic arm movement to achieve a desired overall position of the robotic arm.

14. The surgical robotic system of claim 8 wherein the processor causes the table or the surgical robotic arm to maintain a same distance from the controlling object by measuring an actual distance between the table or the surgical robotic arm and the controlling object and comparing the actual distance to a predetermined distance, and when the actual distance is different than the predetermined distance, sending a robotic command signal to the table or the surgical robotic arm causing the table or the surgical robotic arm to move in the same direction as the controlling object until the actual distance is the same as the predetermined distance.

15. A method for touch-free control of a surgical robot component based on proximity sensing, the method comprising:

determining a distance between a user and a surgical robot component using a proximity sensor comprising a first set of capacitive lines and a second set of capacitive lines coupled to the surgical robot component;

comparing the determined distance of the user to a predetermined target distance, the predetermined target distance being a desired distance to be maintained between the user and the surgical robot component; and

automatically causing the surgical robot component to move linearly in a direction parallel to an x-axis, a z-axis, or a y-axis or angularly in a rotational movement about the x-axis, the z-axis or the y-axis based on the comparing so that the determined distance is equal to the predetermined target distance prior to the user contacting the surgical robot component.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the linear movement and the angular movement are detected based on a change in capacitance at one or more of the first set of capacitive lines and the second set of capacitive lines.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein the surgical robot component is a robotic arm and the robotic arm is caused to move according to a number of degrees of freedom so that the determined distance is equal to the predetermined target distance.

18. The method of claim 15 wherein the surgical robot component is caused to move in a same direction as the user so that the determined distance is equal to the predetermined target distance.