2018 3rd International Conference for Convergence in Technology (I2CT)
The Gateway Hotel, XION Complex, Wakad Road, Pune, India. Apr 06-08, 2018
Compliant Remote Center Motion Mechanism
for Minimally Invasive Surgical Robots
Rupesh S. Bobade
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering,
MIT College of Engineering,
Pune, India
rupesh.bobade@mitcoe.edu.in
Abstract - A high precision or surgeon skills are required in some
of the precision procedures such as micro-scale minimally
invasive surgeries. Robotic manipulators are being explored for
carrying out surgeries with minimal invasion, outstanding
precision and stability of the tool. Major challenges in developing
such systems are motion of the tool with “mechanical” remote
center and preserving surgical feel of the surgeon. This paper
presents conceptual design of 2-DOF isosceles trapezoidal remote
center motion mechanism. The proposed concepts use
mechanically generated RCM. The compact and handy design
helps to preserve the ‘surgical feel’. The use of compliant links
over rigid link mechanism brings the precision in manipulation.
Extensive, nonlinear FE analysis demonstrates the accuracy of
the RCM. Further the actuation method, sensor scheme and
control scheme are presented as an example case.
Keywords - Isosceles trapezoid, compliant mechanism, remote
center motion, minimally invasive surgery.
I. INTRODUCTION
Micro-scale minimally invasive surgeries (MIS) such as retinal
based surgeries, ear surgery, neural surgery, etc. are delicate
and complex because of improper surgical inaccessibility [1].
In MIS, the surgeon has to manipulate surgical tools about
small incision trough trocar [2]. The incision point during
surgery allows only 4 DOFs (three rotational and one
translational) as shown in figure 1.
Fig.1: DOFs at incision point during MIS
Literature backups different mechanisms for achieving Rx and
Rz. A remote center motion (RCM) mechanism permits
rotation around a distal fixed point without any physical
revolute joint at that location [3]. Use of such mechanisms is
standard practice to address MIS. Some of popular examples
are : the Da Vinci robotic system from Intuitive Surgical, Zeus
robotic system from computer motion and some other
prototypes shown in references [4-6] are designed as remote
center devices.
978-1-5386-4273-3/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE
Shrikant K. Yadav
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering,
MIT College of Engineering,
Pune, India
shrikant.yadav@mitcoe.edu.in
In this paper, we propose to used an isosceles trapezoid as
RCM mechanism. The mechanism is capable of generating
instantaneous virtual center [7]. The mechanical RCM design
has advantages such as increased safety and simplified inverse
kinematics. In comparison, the dexterous workspace produced
through computer control can violate the constraint under
noisy situations and can be very dangerous in some cases of
MIS like vitreoretinal surgery [8-10].
Compliant mechanisms are known [7] for their advantages
such as higher accuracy, zero back-lash, frictionless motion,
and high precision in positioning. In order to get the
advantages of compliant mechanisms, we proposed 2-DOF
compliant isosceles trapezoidal RCM mechanism for micro-
scale minimally invasive surgeries. Extensive non-linear
analysis is carried out to demonstrate the accuracy of RCM.
The mobility analysis and analytical model is presented along
with control scheme.
This paper is organized as follows: Section II presents the
proposed 2-DOF mechanisms. Section III presents the
mobility analysis and analytical formulation of the
mechanism. Section IV then presents nonlinear FE analysis to
demonstrate the RCM accuracy. Section V presents actuation
and sensor scheme for controlling the mechanism.
Finally, Section VI concludes the findings.
II. A COMPLIANT ISOSCELES TRAPEZOIDAL REMOTE
CENTER MOTION MECHANISM
This section develops the basic concept of the proposed
compliant RCM mechanism in a step-by-step manner. The
proposed design is based on motion generation through
isosceles-trapezoid four bar link as shown in figure 2.
Fig. 2: Graphical Analysis of Isosceles-Trapezoid
1
It is a planar non-parallelogram four-bar mechanism with 3. It is a simple design with less number of links which makes
instantaneous centers of motion. The instantaneous RCM at it light in weight and easy accessible.
point ‘O’ assuming that the angular rotation is small and link 4. It is a hybrid manipulator.
"CD" is fixed on the base, the motion of the link "AB" can be
Disadvantages of proposed mechanism
considered that rotated around the point ‘O’. In other words,
the point ‘O’ is an instantaneous RCM of this isosceles 1. It can be used only for small angular rotation as the
trapezoid structure. increment of rotational angle will shift the center.
The advantage of compliant (or Flexure) design over rigid link
mechanism is to increase the performance, such as increased
precision, increased reliability, reduced wear, reduced weight
and reduced maintenance. There are different types of flexure
joints researched and developed. In this paper, we propose the
trapezoidal mechanism using leaf links at joints in place of
revolute joints as shown in figure 3.
Two isosceles trapezoids are connected in series such that they
can rotate about the same point with different rotation angles.
As shown in figure 4, the top links of trapezoid-1 and
trapezoid-2 will both rotate about tip of surgical tool in
perpendicular style. So, if the motion stage of trapezoid-1
rotates about x-axis then motion stage of trapezoid-2 will
rotate about z-axis. In this way, 2-DOFs about lateral axes can
be achieved. The remaining DOFs (Ry & Ty: Ref. to figure 1)
rotation and translation about y-axis is possible to generate Fig. 5: Front view and side view of RCM mechanism
through respective actuators along surgical tool axis.

Fig. 3: Compliant isosceles trapezoid using leaf flexures

Fig. 6: Isosceles-Trapezoidal Four-Bar Mechanism

III. MOBILITY ANALYSIS AND ANALYTICAL MODEL

OF TRAPEZOIDAL MECHANISM
This section presents the mobility analysis and analytical
model of trapezoidal mechanism.
A. Mobility Analysis
Degree of freedom (DOF) for a planar mechanism can be
calculated using Kutzbach criteria as
݉ = 3(݊−1)−2݆1−݆2 (1)

Fig. 4: Compliant Isosceles Trapezoidal RCM mechanism
Advantages of proposed mechanism
1. It is a small, compact and simple design
2. The Surgeon can used it as a tool holder and can get the
surgical feel while surgery.
Where, n= number of links, ݆1= number of single-degree-of-
freedom pairs and ݆2=number of two-degree-of-freedom pairs.
For isosceles-trapezoid, n=6, ݆1=7 and ݆2=0.
Therefore, m= 1. So, a trapezoid is a 1-DOF mechanism.
B. Analytical Model

2
In figure 6, an isosceles-trapezoidal four-bar mechanism is
considered with the long bar, OAOB, fixed on the ground. This
configuration allows the upper part of mechanism, top link
'AB' to rotate around Point O as shown in figure 2.
The following parameters are used to configure the
mechanism.
a) a1, a2, a3, a4 denotes the link lengths of trapezium.
b) The angles φ, ψ shows the positions of the sides of
trapezium.
c) Origin is considered at OA
Let AB rotate clockwise to the position A’B’. The angle
between the AB and A’B is α. The virtual Center O moves
from point O to point O1[7].
The parameters from the figure are formulated as follows.

šʹ ൌ ƒͳ െ ƒʹ ‘• ɔ (2)
Figure 7: Change in angles of trapezoid under deflection
›ʹ ൌ ƒʹ •‹ ɔ (3)
š͵ ൌ ƒͶ ‘• ɔ (4) IV. ANALYSIS OF TRAPEZOIDAL MECHANISM
›͵ ൌ ƒͶ •‹ ɔ (5) Analytical formulation of the trapezoid is presented in the
preceding section. To understand the accuracy of virtual center
Similarly, for new position of link AB of trapezium four bar (i.e. RCM), the nonlinear FE analysis of the proposed
mechanism. The equations 2, 3, 4, 5 and new position mechanism is carried out using SOLIDWORKS. This section
formulations are used for mechanism analysis. The relation mainly showcases the results of the analysis.
between angles φ, ψ is given by, During analysis, material is taken as plain carbon steel with
young's modulus of 2.1E5 MPa to address the requirement of
ɗԢ strength and elasticity of leaf flexure of mechanism. For high
quality mesh, parabolic solid tetrahedron element is used. The
ʹ‫߮݊݅ݏ‬Ԣ േ ඥሺͶ‫߮ ʹ݊݅ݏ‬Ԣ െ Ͷ‫ܤܣ‬ሻ (6)
ൌ ʹ –ƒെͳ ൥ ൩ convergence analysis is carried out and the element size is
ʹ‫ܣ‬ taken as 200 micrometers.
Where, The base link of trapezoid-2 is kept fixed. The motion stage or
ܽͳ ܽͳ top link of trapezoid-2 is a base link of trapezoid-1 have
‫ ܣ‬ൌ ‘• ߮Ԣ ቆͳ െ ൬ ൰ቇ െ ൬ ൰ shared nodes. Load is applied to the handle of surgical tool to
ܽͶ ܽʹ replicate the actual scenario of surgery.
ܽͳ ʹ ൅ ܽʹ ʹ െ ܽ͵ ʹ ൅ ܽͶ ʹ The tip of surgical tool is matched with the instantaneous
൅ (7)
ʹܽʹ ܽͶ center of both trapezoids of mechanism. The force on the
handle similar to the case during surgery produces deflection
in the motion stages. Here the deflection at the tip can be
treated as parasitic or unwanted error.
ܽͳ ʹ ൅ ܽʹ ʹ െ ܽ͵ ʹ ൅ ܽͶ ʹ ܽͳ Figure 8 shows the deformation in trapezoid-1 when force is
‫ܤ‬ൌ൅ ൅൬ ൰ applied in x-direction. While figure 9 presents the deformation
ʹܽʹ ܽͶ ܽʹ
(8) in trapezoid-2 when force is applied in the z-direction. Figure
ܽͳ 10 reveals the respective deformations in terms of 'θ' and 'ϕ'.
൅ ‘• ߮Ԣ ቆͳ ൅ ൬ ൰ቇ
ܽͶ Figure 11 illustrates the parasitic error at RCM along 'x', 'y'
and 'z' axis when the force is applied in the x-direction of the
From equations 6, 7, 8 the values of angle ψ’ for different handle. It shows the error is maximum in x-direction in
input angles φ’ can easily be calculated. The figure 7 shows comparison to the y-direction while in z-direction it is
the relation of input angle φ and angle α which corresponds to negligible. Figure 12 illustrates the parasitic error at RCM
link AB. Compared to input angle φ the deflection of link AB along 'x', 'y' and 'z' axis when the force is applied in the z-
is very small. direction of the handle. It shows the error is the maximum in
z-direction in comparison to the y-direction while in x-
direction it is negligible. In both cases, the maximum error
obtained is about 0.27mm at the RCM point. It proves the
accuracy of RCM point.

3
Fig. 8: Nonlinear FEA results (Force in x direction)
Fig. 9: Nonlinear FEA results (Force in z direction)
Fig. 10: Nonlinear FEA results (Deflection of tool)
4
Fig. 11: Parasitic error at RCM (Force in x direction)
Fig. 12: Parasitic error at RCM (Force in z direction)
V. ACTUATION METHOD AND SENSOR SCHEME FOR
CONTROLLING MANIPULATION OF MECHANISM
In the preceding sections we have presented the design and
analysis of trapezoidal RCM mechanism. The proposed
mechanism protects surgical feel of the surgeon because of its
handy design. In addition, the mechanism can also be extended
as a tele-robotic system. The actuation method and sensor
scheme are presented in this section for controlling the
manipulation of the mechanism as an example case.
A. Actuation Method
In the proposed mechanism of 2-DOF RCM requires two
actuators to control their motion stages. Selection and position
of these actuators to achieve the desired range of motion is a
tough challenge.
Voice coil actuator provides the direct force with precise
motion. As shown in figure 13, these actuators can be placed
against the motion stage. The flexure connection between
actuator and motion stage can take care the transmission of
linear to rotary motions. The non-engagement of motion stages IV. CONCLUSION
of trapezoids 1 & 2 helps to have fixed actuators for
A 2-DOF compliant isosceles trapezoidal remote center
appropriate control action.
motion mechanism is presented in this paper to address the
incision constraint of micro-scale minimally invasive surgery.
The proposed mechanism is compact and its handy nature of a
design protects the surgical feel of the surgeon. The accuracy
of RCM is presented using nonlinear FE analysis. Next the
mobility analysis and analytical model of the mechanism is
presented. Further, the actuator method and the sensor scheme
for controlling the mechanism is presented in an example case.
The mechanism is best suited for micro-scale MIS but can also
be extended to other applications of constraint workspace.
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­ Displaceme nt ½
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Figure 14 shows the layout of the proposed position control minimally invasive surgery,” PhD Thesis, MIT, 1998.
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Fig. 14: Control scheme