Virtual Reality Simulation of a Robotic Laparoscopic Surgical System

Virtual reality simulation of robotic-assisted minimal invasive procedures reveals interesting issues related to the perception, control and manipulation of laparoscopic tools with emphasis given to the pivot trajectories and the RemoteCenter- of-Motion (RCM) constrained motion planning. In this paper, the Gazebo simulator under Robot Operating System (ROS) allows the inclusion of hardware-in-the-loop for Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) procedures. The RCM constraint is addressed through the transformation of the surgical task space into the robot's taskspace, while addressing the robot's manipulability. Emphasis is given in calculating various geometric paths to be followed by the robot during surgery. Simulations were conducted using the ROS framework and the MoveIt kinematic planner using the RRTConnect path planning algorithm to evaluate the efficacy proposed scheme.