Transparency and semi-autonomy in teleoperation

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My research program is in the areas of teleoperation and medical robotics. Results from our previous NSERC Discovery Grant include: (A) for robot-assisted surgery, instrument force and surgeon's hand force sensing, as well as advanced teleoperation controllers that work on a full bi-manual surgical system, the da Vinci medical robotics system, (B) a new endoscopic camera that provides better visualization, methods for tissue tracking in camera views, an eye gaze tracker for the da Vinci system, and methods for planning surgical robot motion, and (C) an approach and system to enable a human novice to easily copy the hand motion of a mentor, the novice behaving as if it were a robot controlled by the expert. The long-term objective of my research program is to improve the surgeon's interface for robot-assisted procedures. For this granting period, our short-term objectives are: A. Force feedback. We will develop methods to provide to the surgeon a feeling of the forces that the instruments encounter during surgery. The instrument and surgeon's forces will be used to research new methods of robot teleoperation control that have superior performance than possible without force sensing. B. Automated camera and third-arm assistance. When operating, surgeons have to move the 3D camera so they can observe the surgical sight from an appropriate angle and distance. To move the camera, they need to switch from controlling the robotic instruments to controlling the camera, then back, and so on. This is inefficient. Methods to automatically move our new camera within the body for best view of the surgical site will be developed. The third arm could become very useful if used with ultrasound so that the surgeon can see underneath the tissue surface shown by the camera. We will develop methods to move the ultrasound transducer automatically where it can provide a view of the tissue that is useful to the surgeon, e.g. to avoid perforating a blood vessel by mistake. C. Human teleoperation. In teleoperated ultrasound, an ultrasound probe is mounted on a robot controlled by an expert from a distance. To set up the robot and insure safety, this approach requires an assistant. The role of the robot can be taken by a novice person, wearing translucent "mixed reality" glasses that can display a virtual ultrasound probe that is controlled by the expert. By moving the real probe to coincide with the virtual one, the novice takes the role of a remote robot, and copies the hand movements of the expert. We will study various aspects of such a novel system, including how to provide force feedback to the expert. Robotics and teleoperation are having an increasing impact on our lives. The users of this research include other researchers, medical robotics companies and ultrasound imaging companies. Our program will train the next generation of HQP in teleoperation and medical robotics.