Pr. Kenji Kawashima

Department of Information Physics and Computing

Graduate School of Information Science and Technology

The University of Tokyo

Title: Design and Control of Pneumatically-driven Surgical Robot

Biography:

Kenji Kawashima received the Ph.D. degree in engineering from the Department of Control Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan, in 1997. From 1997 to 2000, he was a Research Assistant with the Tokyo Metropolitan College of Industrial Technology. He was an Associate Professor with the Precision and Intelligence Laboratory, Tokyo Institute of Technology. From 2013 to 2020, he was a Professor with Tokyo Medical and Dental University. In 2014, funded University Start-up Riverfield Inc. Since April 2020, he has been a Professor with The University of Tokyo. His research interests include medical robotics, control engineering, and fluid measurement and control.

Abstract:

I will discuss the design and control of a pneumatically-driven robot used in minimally invasive surgery (MIS), one of the most active areas of research and development in surgical robotics. The robot consists of a master manipulator and a follower robot. The follower robot consists of a base unit, multiple robot arms, and robotic forceps attached to those robot arms. The robot arm must design to move around a pivot point. The robotic forceps have a wrist joint and a grasper at the tip. Each joint is usually wire-driven by electric motor with reduction gears. We have developed robotic forceps driven directly by a pneumatic cylinder. The backdrivability of the pneumatic cylinder allows the gripping force to be estimated from the cylinder pressure and position. The master manipulator is designed considering the workspace of the human arm. Finally, a human robot cooperative control method using machine learning is presented.

Pr. Qiaode Jeffrey Ge

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Stony Brook University, the State University of New York

Title: Computational Kinematic Geometry and its Applications in Machine Design and Robotics.

Biography:

Jeff Ge received his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Irvine, in 1990. He is currently Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Stony Brook University, the State University of New York, where he served as the Department Chair from 2016 to 2023. His research interests lie at the intersection of computational geometry, kinematics and dynamics of machines and robotic systems.

He is a Fellow of ASME and served as the chairs of the ASME Mechanisms and Robotics Committee and ASME Design Engineering Division. He was chair (2012-2016) of USCToMM, U.S. Committee for the Theory of Machines and Mechanisms of IFToMM and elected as Chair of the Constitution Committee of IFToMM (1999-2023). He was co-editor of ASME Journal of Mechanical Design (2021-2024) and currently founding Editor-in-Chief of ASME Letters in Translational Robotics. He is a recipient of ASME Mechanisms and Robotics Award (2021) and ASME AT Yang Memorial Award in Theoretical Kinematics (2022).

Abstract:

This talk highlights the research advances at the intersection of computational geometry, computer aided design, as well as kinematics and dynamics of machines and robotic systems. They include methods for computer aided motion design for motion animation, CNC tool path planning, as well as motion trajectory planning for high-speed robot end-to-end motions to reduce residual vibrations. An education robotics platform will also be introduced that includes a multi-platform software for mechanism design and a hardware kit for rapid construction of robotic devices.