Design and characterization of a 7-DOF haptic interface for a minimally invasive surgery test-bed

In this paper, we present the design of a 7 degrees-of-freedom (DOF) Haptic Interface for applications in Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS). The design of the interface is based on an existing dual-panthograph Haptic Wand and is capable of position and force reflection in three translational, three rotational DOF and grasping motion. The paper presents the implementation of a novel cable driven differential transmission to include the yaw and grasping force reflection to the interface. The kinematic and dynamic properties of the interface are characterized and presented. Experimental results demonstrate that the device is capable of high-force reflection with good transparency.