WO2024145000A1

WO2024145000A1 - Clutching of manipulators and related devices and systems

Info

Publication number: WO2024145000A1
Application number: PCT/US2023/083541
Authority: WO
Inventors: Steven Manuel
Original assignee: Intuitive Surgical Operations Inc
Current assignee: Intuitive Surgical Operations Inc
Priority date: 2022-12-30
Filing date: 2023-12-12
Publication date: 2024-07-04
Anticipated expiration: 2025-06-30
Also published as: CN120603550A; EP4642371A1

Abstract

A manipulator system comprises a plurality of manipulator arms and a controller. Each manipulator arm of the plurality of manipulator arms comprises a plurality of links coupled by one or more joints, the plurality of links of each manipulator arm comprising a distal link assembly comprising an instrument holding portion configured to be removably coupled with an instrument. The controller is configured to initiate a group clutch mode for a group of manipulator arms comprising two or more of the plurality of manipulator arms. While in the group clutching mode, the controller drives joints of the group of manipulator arms based on manual movement of one or more manipulator arms of the group of manipulator arms along at least one degree of freedom of motion and coordinates movement of defined portions of each of the manipulator arms in the group of manipulator arms.

Description

CLUTCHING OF MANIPULATORS AND RELATED DEVICES AND SYSTEMS

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/477,865 (filed December 30, 2022), titled “CLUTCHING OF MANIPULATORS AND RELATED DEVICES, SYSTEMS AND METHODS” the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD

[002] Aspects of this disclosure relate generally to manipulator systems. In particular, aspects of the disclosure relate to controlling movement of manipulators of manipulator systems, such as medical manipulator systems.

INTRODUCTION

[003] Computer-assisted manipulator systems (“manipulator systems”), sometimes referred to as robotically assisted systems or robotic systems, may comprise one or more manipulators arms that can be operated with the assistance of an electronic controller (e.g., computer) to move and control functions of one or more instruments coupled to the manipulators through actuation of output drives of the manipulators and corresponding input drives of the instruments. A manipulator arm (also referred to herein as a manipulator) generally comprises mechanical links connected by joints. An instrument is removably couplable to (or permanently coupled to) one of the links, typically a distal link of the plural links. The manipulators are attached to a manipulator support structure, such as a table for supporting a patient or workpiece (e.g., an operating table), a mobile cart that is separate from and can be positioned adjacent to such a table, or some other support structure. Manipulator systems that have their manipulators coupled to a table may be referred to herein as a table-mounted manipulator system. [004] The joints of a manipulator arm may include rotary joints that provide for relative rotation between links and/or prismatic joints that provide for relative translation between links. In some systems, at least some of the joints of the manipulators are powered joints. Powered joints comprise actuators (e.g., electric motors, hydraulic actuators, or other actuators), which are drivable by the electronic controller to cause motion about or along the joints. The joints may also include brakes, which can resist or prevent motion about or along the joint. The actuators and/or brakes of powered joints of a manipulator may be driven and controlled by the electronic controller of the system. The electronic controller may control the actuators to move the manipulators about the joints based on user inputs and/or based on logic programmed into the electronic controller. For example, the manipulator system may comprise an input system with input devices (e.g., joysticks, buttons, or other inputs) that a user can actuate to provide inputs to the electronic controller. Such input devices may be provided at a console, for example. User inputs may also be provided to the electronic controller in other ways, such as by a user directly applying force to a manipulator during a clutched movement, as will described in greater detail below. The electronic controller comprises logic programmed therein that allows the controller to interpret these user inputs and, in response, generate appropriate driving signals to cause motion of the manipulators and/or instruments coupled thereto based on the user inputs. In addition, the electronic controller may automatically control certain motions of the manipulators based on preprogrammed routines without necessarily following direct user inputs, such as for reconfiguring the manipulators from a stowed position to a deployed position ready for use. The manipulators may be in the stowed position for storage and/or transport. Examples of stowed positions include positions in which the manipulators are individually and collectively compacted and stowed under the table in a table-mounted manipulator system, and positions in which the manipulators are compacted and stowed on or in a portion of the cart in a cart-based system. Examples of deployed positions include positions in which the manipulators are relatively in extended configurations (e.g., links relatively extended relative to joints to which they connect) and positioned along locations in which they are able to be accessed for instrument mounting and/or holding instruments for use in a medical procedure occurring on a body on the table.

[005] In some systems, a patient-side user may also move a manipulator manually without actuating input devices at the console of the input system. For example, in some systems the manipulators may be set up in their initial poses for a procedure, at least in part, by a user manually moving the manipulators. Manually moving the manipulators refers to the patient-side user grasping and directly applying forces to the manipulators to cause their motion. Such manual motion of the manipulators may be needed in some cases, for example, because the electronic controller may be unable to position the manipulators automatically in a given context. For example, because a size and shape of a patient may vary, as well as the precise location of the patient relative to the operating table, the electronic controller in some systems may not know the precise location of entry ports in the patient relative to the table, and thus the controller may not know where to deploy the manipulators in order to allow docking of the manipulators with those entry ports (docking of a manipulator with an entry port refers to engaging the manipulator and/or an instrument or other device carried by or mounted to the manipulator with a cannula of the entry port; for example, in a docked state, a cannula holder of an instrument holding portion of the manipulator may be engaged with the cannula and an instrument shaft of an instrument carried by the instrument holding portion may be inserted through the cannula). Thus, a patient-side user may need to manually position the manipulators, e.g., from an initial deployed position accomplished by the controller, to achieve docking of the manipulators to patient entry ports. In addition, in some cases, manual movement of the manipulators is used for positioning during certain portions of a case instead of using the input devices at a console because in some systems the input devices of the console are not capable of controlling the joints whose motion is needed. For example, in some systems, the input devices of the console may control only fine movements at a distal end of a manipulator, such as insertion/removal of an instrument and/or movement of an instrument end effector, but not gross movements of the manipulators as a whole (e.g., movement about more proximal joints of the manipulators). In addition, even in systems in which the input devices could control the joints about which movement is desired, it may nevertheless be desired to move the manipulators manually in some circumstances because it may be easier or faster to make a manual movement than to use the input devices.

[006] Such manual movements of the manipulator may be facilitated by a clutch state of a manipulator which allows for clutched motion of a manipulator. Clutched motion or clutching refers to the system controlling the powered actuators and brakes of at least one powered joint of a manipulator so as to allow a user to manually move the manipulator about that joint or joints. Clutching does not necessarily mean that the powered joints of the manipulator are fully powered off or left completely free to move. Instead, in some cases, clutched motion may include the controller actively driving at least some of the powered joints of the manipulator to support the weight of the various links of the manipulators while also allowing at least certain defined portions of the manipulator to move substantially in response to forces supplied by the user. Thus, in these examples the manipulators may act as if they were free floating. Moreover, in some cases, clutching may include not only supporting the weight of the manipulator, but also driving powered joints to actively assist the user in moving the manipulator around. In such cases, the controller may sense the forces being supplied by the user to the manipulator and, based on this, the electronic controller can infer a direction in which the user is attempting to move the manipulator, allowing the controller to drive the actuators so as to follow and/or assist the user in this motion. Thus, during clutched motion, the user guides the motion of the manipulator and supplies at least some of the forces that move the manipulator around, but the system also may actively drive powered joints to some degree to facilitate this manual movement.

SUMMARY

[007] Various embodiments of the present disclosure may solve one or more of the above-mentioned problems and/or may demonstrate one or more of the above- mentioned desirable features. Other features and/or advantages may become apparent from the description that follows. [008] In accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure In accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, a manipulator system comprises a plurality of manipulator arms and a controller. Each manipulator arm of the plurality of manipulator arms comprises a plurality of links coupled by one or more joints, the plurality of links of each manipulator arm comprising a distal link assembly comprising an instrument holding portion configured to be removably coupled with an instrument. The controller is configured to initiate a group clutch mode for a group of manipulator arms comprising two or more of the plurality of manipulator arms. While in the group clutching mode, the controller drives joints of the group of manipulator arms based on manual movement of one or more manipulator arms of the group of manipulator arms along at least one degree of freedom of motion and coordinates movement of defined portions of each of the manipulator arms in the group of manipulator arms.

[009] In accordance with at least one other embodiment of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer readable medium stores instructions that are executable by a processor of a manipulator system comprising a plurality of manipulator arms to cause the processor to initiate a group clutch mode for a group of manipulator arms comprising two or more of the plurality of manipulator arms. The instructions further cause the processor to, while in the group clutch mode, drive joints of the group of manipulator arms based on manual movement of one or more of manipulator arms of the group of manipulator arms along at least one degree of freedom of motion and coordinates movement of defined portions of each of the manipulator arms in the group of manipulator arms.

[010] In accordance with at least one other embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of controlling a manipulator system comprises initiating a group clutch mode for a group of manipulator arms comprising two or more of a plurality of manipulator arms of the manipulator system. The method further comprises, while in the group clutch mode, driving joints of the group of manipulator arms based on manual movement of one or more manipulator arms of the group of manipulator arms along at least one degree of freedom of motion and coordinating movement of defined portions of each of the manipulator arms in the group of manipulators.

[011] In accordance with at least one other embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of positioning manipulator arms of a manipulator system comprises indicating to a controller of the manipulator system that group clutched motion is requested. The method further comprises, moving a group of manipulator arms together as a group with coordinated motion between defined portions of each manipulator arm of the group of manipulator arms by manually applying forces to one or more of the manipulator arms, wherein the group of manipulator arms comprises at least one manipulator arm to which the forces are not manually applied.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[012] The present disclosure can be understood from the following detailed description, either alone or together with the accompanying drawings. The drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate one or more embodiments of the present teachings and together with the description explain certain principles and operation. In the drawings:

[013] FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an embodiment of a table-mounted manipulator system in a first state.

[014] FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the table-mounted manipulator system of FIG. 1 in a second state.

[015] FIG. 3 is a schematic front view of the table-mounted manipulator system of FIG. 1 in a third state.

[016] FIG. 4 is a schematic front view of the table-mounted manipulator system of FIG. 1 in a fourth state. [017] FIG. 5 is a schematic front view of the table-mounted manipulator system of FIG. 1 in a fifth state.

[018] FIG. 6 is a schematic top view of the table-mounted manipulator system of FIG. 1 in a sixth state.

[019] FIG. 7 is a schematic top view of the table-mounted manipulator system of FIG. 1 in a seventh state.

[020] FIG. 8 is a schematic top view of the table-mounted manipulator system of FIG. 1 in an eighth state.

[021] FIG. 9 is a schematic top view of the table-mounted manipulator system of FIG. 1 in a ninth state.

[022] FIG. 10 is a schematic top view of the table-mounted manipulator system of FIG. 1 in the second state.

[023] FIG. 11 is a schematic top view of the table-mounted manipulator system of FIG. 1 in a tenth state.

[024] FIG. 12 is a schematic rear view of the table-mounted manipulator system of FIG. 1 in the second state.

[025] FIG. 13 is a schematic rear view of the table-mounted manipulator system of FIG. 1 in the tenth state.

[026] FIG. 14 is a schematic rear view of the table-mounted manipulator system of FIG. 1 in an eleventh state.

[027] FIG. 15 is a process flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a method of controlling manipulators in group clutched motion.

[028] FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of an electronic controller for a manipulator system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[029] In systems that comprise multiple manipulators, it can sometimes be a slow and/or complicated process to manually move the individual manipulators around into desired poses. For example, in some instances, particularly in table-mounted manipulator system but also in cart-based systems, the manipulators may need to be positioned in a relatively complicated arrangement (e.g., with some manipulators crossing over other manipulators and/or from one side of the table to the opposite side) in order for instruments carried thereon to be able to align with entry ports in a patient and/or maintain sufficient safety margins between arms, the patient or other obstacles during surgery. To move the manipulators into appropriate positioning for this arrangement can be challenging. Moreover, it can take some time to position these manipulators in this complicated arrangement. As another example, before or after a procedure, it may be desired to move all of the manipulators of a table-mounted manipulator system to one end of the table (e.g., for removing sterile drapes therefrom and/or other pre-or post-procedure preparations), but because some manipulators may be coupled to one side of a table while others are coupled to the opposite side, a user may need to make multiple trips along both sides and/or around ends of the table to manually move all of the manipulators, which takes time and effort. As another example, positioning the manipulators of a table-mounted manipulator system relative to one another so that they can be draped with a sterile drape before a procedure or undraped after the procedure (e.g., spreading the manipulators apart to make room for accessing the manipulators, raising or lowering the manipulators, or other desired positional adjustments), may similarly require a user to manually move each of these manipulators, which again takes time and effort. Similarly, in a cart-based manipulator system it may be desired to position the manipulators for draping or other pre- or postprocedure actions, and this positioning can entail many manual movements of the individual manipulators by a user, which can be time consuming and difficult. Reducing the complexity of, and the time spent on, manually moving the manipulators may thus be desired. In particular, in a medical procedure context, time is often of the essence, and thus reducing the time that is spent on moving manipulators about before or after the procedure may be particularly beneficial in this context.

[030] Accordingly, a need exists for improved manual (clutched) motion of manipulators in systems that comprise multiple manipulators.

[031] To address the challenges noted above, various embodiments disclosed herein contemplate manipulator systems configured to provide one or more group clutch modes which allow for group clutched motion of a defined group of manipulators of a manipulator system (in some cases, all of the manipulators; in other cases, a subset thereof). Group clutched motion or group clutching as used herein refers to driving a group of manipulators such that the manipulators are movable together as a group when one or more of the manipulators of the group are manually moved with the controller coordinating motion of defined portions of the manipulators. The defined portions may include, for example, an instrument holding portion, a point on or defined relative to the manipulator (e.g., a point at a tip of an instrument shaft carried by the manipulator, a remote center of motion point defined for the manipulator, or some other point), a joint or collection of points, a link or collection of links, or any other defined portion. In group clutched motion, at least one (in some cases, two) of the manipulators are grasped by a user and these grasped manipulators are placed in a clutched state that allows the user to manually move the defined portions of the manipulators about, with the assistance of the controller and subject to certain constraints. In addition, the remaining manipulators of the group (e.g., manipulators not being grasped by the user), if any, are actively controlled by the system to follow the lead of the grasped manipulators such that the defined portions of all of the manipulators in the group move together as a group with coordinated motion of the defined portions. As used herein, coordinated motion of the defined portions of the group of manipulators refers to the defined portions being controlled by the controller to maintain a defined spatial relationship relative to one another while following the manual motions imparted by the user. Grasping as used herein refers generically to any contact by the user with the manipulator (directly, or via an intermediary such as via a tool, a drape, or other intermediary) that allows the manual application of force by the user to the manipulator, but does not require any specific form of such contact. The user causing the group of manipulators to move by manually applied forces to one or more manipulators of the group during group clutching may be referred to herein as the user manually moving the group of manipulators because, although the user may only apply forces directly to some of the members of the group, the motion the entire group of manipulators is caused and directed by the user’s manually applied forces.

[032] As noted above, in a group clutched mode, the grasped manipulators are clutched, meaning that the powered joints of these manipulators are driven by the electronic controller such that at least the defined portion (e.g., an instrument holding portion of the manipulator) is free floating and manually movable by a user, i.e. , the defined portion is supported against gravity but the instrument holding portion is moveable in at least one degree of freedom of motion (in some cases, all degrees of freedom of motion) in response to a user manually applying forces to the manipulator. In some cases, the system may also actively assist the motion of the grasped manipulator(s) in addition to supporting the weight of the manipulators, for example by sensing the forces applied by the user, inferring a direction of intended motion, and driving some or all of the joints to assist in that motion. The clutching of these grasped manipulators does not necessarily mean that the manipulators have unconstrained motion. As noted above, the group clutched motion comprises coordinated motion of the defined portions, or in other words maintaining a defined spatial relationship between the defined portions of the manipulators. In some cases, such coordination may include constraining the motion of the grasped manipulators (as well as the other manipulators in the group) so as to prevent certain motions thereof that would result in deviation from the defined spatial relationship, even if the user attempts to manually cause such a movement. For example, in some modes (e.g., a first mode described below) the controller might prevent two grasped manipulators from being moved apart from one another, and thus the controller may drive the joints so as to prevent a user from manually causing the manipulators to move apart even if the user is applying forces to the manipulators that would otherwise result in such motion if unconstrained. Thus, references to the grasped manipulators being clutched or free-floating do not mean that all motions thereof are fully unconstrained. In addition to constraining the motions of the manipulators relative to one another to maintain the defined spatial relationship, the motions of the manipulators may also be constrained for other reasons, such as to avoid collisions, to avoid motions that carry the manipulators beyond their range of motion, and/or to enforce other constraints.

[033] Group clutching of manipulators as described herein differs from moving multiple individually clutched manipulators at the same time in at least two ways. First, with group clutching, manipulators that are not being grasped and directly manipulated by the user may be moved around together with the manipulators being grasped and manipulated by the user. In contrast, when manually moving individually clutched manipulators, only those manipulators currently being grasped and manually moved by the user will move. Second, with group clutching, although the user manually directs the motion of the group as a whole, the controller coordinates the movements of the manipulators in the group relative to one another, including driving the motions of the manipulators to maintain a defined spatial relationship. In contrast, with individually clutched manipulators, the user separately guides each grasped manipulator and the motions of the manipulators with respect to each other are not coordinated by the system or driven to maintain any particular relationship relative to one another (although the system may control some motions of individually clutched manipulators to, for example, avoid collisions or enforce other safety constraints). In other words, with individually clutched manipulators, the motions of the manipulators are essentially independent of one another.

[034] The manipulator system may have one or more different group clutch modes that provide for different types of coordinated motion, or in other different modes in which the controller maintains different types of defined spatial relationships during the group clutched motion. For example, in a first group clutch mode, the defined spatial relationship maintained by the controller comprises a fixed spatial relationship (i.e. , fixed relative poses) between the defined portions of the manipulators. In other words, in the first mode, the active joints of the manipulators in the group (both grasped and nongrasped manipulators) are driven such that the defined portions (e.g., the instrument holding portions) act as if they are rigidly coupled together. Thus, while the user may relatively freely move the defined portions of the manipulators as a group about the workspace (e.g., relative to an operating table), the controller constrains the motions of the individual manipulators so as to maintain the same spatial relationship of the defined portions relative to one another throughout the movement (e.g., the spatial relationship present at the initiation of the group clutch mode). Other portions of the manipulators, however, may change their poses relative to one another during the group clutched motion as needed to facilitate the motion of the defined portions and to achieve other desired objectives, such as optimizing manipulator poses, reducing chances of collisions, or other objectives.

[035] The first group clutched mode may allow a user to manually reposition multiple (in some cases all) of the manipulators more rapidly than manually moving the manipulators individually, as manipulation of one or two manipulators by the user can move all manipulators in the group. In addition, the first group clutched mode may make certain relatively complex arrangements of the manipulators easier to attain. For example, as noted above, it can be relatively challenging to position the manipulators of a table-mounted manipulator system in the complex arrangement that may be needed for some procedures. In particular, as mentioned above, the controller may not be able to position the manipulators directly into the poses that are needed for docking instruments held by the manipulators with entry ports due to variability in port positioning (e.g., because patient shapes, sizes, and locations relative to the table may vary). However, in embodiments disclosed herein the user may use the group-clutched motion in the first mode to manually move the manipulators to align and dock with entry ports in the patient. Because the group-clutched motion in the first mode maintains the spatial relationship of the defined portions (e.g., instrument holding portions), as the user manually moves the manipulators into position near the patient, a complex arrangement thereof which was initially defined by the controller is maintained and thus the user does not need to worry about getting the manipulators arranged correctly. In contrast, without group clutched motion, even if the controller were to automatically arrange the manipulators to initial deployed positions, then when it comes time for the user to manually move the manipulators to positions for docking to the patient, the user will have to move the manipulators one at a time, and it can be difficult for the user to get the manipulators in desired alignments with respect to each other. Not only is the precise positioning of the manipulators somewhat difficult to do manually, but also in some cases, if the manipulators are not moved in the right order and in the right way, the manipulators may collide with one another or otherwise not be able to be put into a preferred arrangement. Furthermore, even if the user is able to achieve the desired arrangement, it will take much longer to do so than it would using the group-clutched motion. Thus, the first mode of group clutched motion greatly simplifies what can otherwise be a complicated process of arranging the manipulators and also saves time by allowing all the manipulators to be moved together.

[036] As another example, in a second group clutched mode, the defined spatial relationship maintained by the controller comprises a variable spatial relationship based on coordinated movement. Although the spatial relationship is variable in this mode, it is nevertheless defined because the spatial relationship is determined based on a predefined set of rules based on coordinated movement. For example, in some embodiments the variable spatial relationship maintained in the second group clutched mode comprises moving one subset of the group of manipulators in an anti-coordinated (e.g., mirrored) fashion relative to another subset of the group of manipulators along one or more degrees of freedom of motion. For example, in some embodiments, the manipulators on one lateral side of a longitudinal centerline of the system (e.g., the manipulators coupled to one side of the table in a table-mounted system) may form one subset of the group, and the manipulators on the other lateral side of the longitudinal centerline (e.g., the manipulators coupled to the other side of the table) may form another subset of the group, and these subsets may be controlled to move in an anticoordinated manner relative to one another in a lateral degree of freedom of motion. (Lateral and longitudinal correspond to orthogonal dimensions of a table or of a patient side cart). In some embodiments, motions of the manipulators in other directions may coordinate in other ways, such as by maintaining fixed relationships in the other degrees of freedom. In other words, in these examples, motions of the manipulators are mirrored, for example across the longitudinal centerline of the system (more precisely, mirrored across a plane containing the longitudinal centerline and perpendicular to the lateral dimension). Thus, for example, if a first manipulator on one side of the centerline is moved by a user laterally in one direction relative to the centerline, then the controller will drive the other manipulators on that same side of the centerline to move in the same direction as the first manipulator, and the controller will drive the manipulators on the other side of the centerline to move in a lateral direction opposite that of the first manipulator. By way of example, in the second group clutched mode using mirrored motion, if a user pulls back on a first manipulator in a direction away from the centerline of the table, then other manipulators in the group on the same side of the table will also pull back in the same direction. Conversely, manipulators in the group on the opposite side of the table will move away from the centerline in a direction opposite to the first manipulator (rather than following towards the first manipulator). Similarly, if a user pushes a first manipulator in a direction toward the centerline of the table, then other manipulators in the group on the same side of the table will also move towards in the centerline in the same direction. In such a mode, manipulators in the group on the opposite side of the table will move towards the centerline by moving in a direction opposite to the first manipulator (rather than moving away from the first manipulator). Continuing the previous example, if the first manipulator is moved by the user in some other degree of freedom other than laterally, all of the other manipulators (on both sides of the centerline) will be driven to follow this motion in the same direction. Thus, in this example the manipulators move in a coordinated fashion in degrees of freedom of motion other than lateral motion, and in an anti-coordinated fashion for lateral motion. Although contralateral motion in a single degree of freedom (e.g., mirroring about a single plane) is described above, in other embodiments contralateral motion may be used for multiple degrees of freedom of motion (e.g., mirroring about multiple planes). Moreover, degrees of freedom of motion other than the lateral degree of freedom of motion may be used as the degree of freedom about which the contralateral motion is used.

[037] The second group clutched mode may allow the manipulators to be transitioned from a state in which the manipulators are clustered together around the centerline to a state in which the manipulators are spread apart in a lateral direction, or vice versa. For example, the group of manipulators may all fan out or expand laterally away from the centerline in response to one manipulator (or two ipsilateral manipulators) being moved laterally away from the centerline, or in response to two contralateral manipulators being moved laterally apart from one another. Conversely, the manipulators may be collapsed laterally inward from the spread-out configuration in response to one manipulator (or two ipsilateral manipulators) being manually moved laterally toward the centerline, or two contralateral manipulators being moved laterally together. This type of fanning out or expanding movement away from the centerline (or the converse collapsing motion toward the centerline) may be useful, for example, during a process of draping the manipulators with a sterile drape (or undraping the manipulators after a procedure), as spreading the manipulators out may provide more room around each of the manipulators in which users can work. Moreover, the second group clutch mode may allow this to be achieved without requiring a user to manually position each one of the manipulators individually, thus saving the user time and effort. It should be appreciated that a centerline of the system is one example reference line for coordinated motion in group clutch mode, but other points, lines, or planes of the system or other aspects within the environment may be used for coordinated motion.

[038] In addition, in some embodiments, the first group clutched mode may be used while manipulators are being moved between one end of the table and a position over the table or between an undeployed and deployed states of the manipulators, such as may occur in a preparation phase before a procedure or in a post-procedure phase after completion of a procedure. In other embodiments, the second group clutched mode may be used for such motion of the manipulators. In still other embodiments, some other group clutched mode may be used for such motion of the manipulators. The use of group clutching for such movement may allow a user to grasp just one or two manipulators on a given side of the table and carry all of the manipulators as a group to the desired positions. This avoids the need for the user to make multiple trips along both sides of a table to retrieve all of the manipulators individually, thus saving time and effort.

[039] In some embodiments, a system may have just one of group clutch mode. In other embodiments, a system may have multiple group clutch modes that can be selected between, such as the first and second group clutch modes described above or other group clutch modes. In some embodiments in which multiple group clutch modes are available, the mode that is used for a given group clutched movement may be selected by a user, for example by the user pressing one or more buttons. In some embodiments in which multiple group clutched modes are available, the mode that is used for a given group clutched movement may be automatically selected by the electronic controller based on set criteria, such as, e.g., based on the current state of the system and/or sensed conditions. For example, in some embodiments, the first group clutch mode may be automatically selected when group clutched motion is initiated in a state in which the manipulators are in a deployed position over an operating table, and the second group clutch mode may be automatically selected when group clutched motion is initiated in a state in which the manipulators are positioned for draping (e.g., all positioned at a head or foot of the table, for example). As another example, the second group clutched mode may be selected when the system is in a pre-deployed-for-docking state prior to arranging the manipulators in a deployed-for- docking state before a procedure, or in a post-procedure state after completion of a procedure, whereas the first group clutched mode may be used in the deployed-for- docking state of the system. The deployed-for-docking state begins with the controller arranging the manipulators in positions preparatory for docking with entry ports in a patient and ends when all the manipulators have been docked. For example, in the deployed-for-docking state the controller may arrange the manipulators with defined portions thereof (e.g., instrument holding portions) in predetermined poses relative to one another near (e.g., above) the patient, and then a user may manually move the defined portions of the manipulators from these predetermined poses into a docking position. In some embodiments, such predetermined poses of the defined portions comprise the same relative poses as will ultimately be had upon docking except shifted in position away from (e.g., above) the patient, and thus usage of the first group clutch mode in the deployed-for-docking state may allow for the group of manipulators to be manually moved together as a group into a docking position while maintaining the relative poses of the defined portions of the manipulators during the movement. In some embodiments, modes may be both user selected and automatically selected (e.g., a mode may be automatically selected by default and a user may override that selection if desired). In some embodiments, the group clutch mode may be selected, based at least in part, on a manner in which the group clutched movement is initiated — for example, if a user initiates group clutched motion by pressing one set of clutch inputs, this may cause one group clutch mode, whereas if the user initiates group clutched motion by pressing a different set of clutch inputs this may cause a different group clutch mode.

[040] The electronic controller may be configured to identify that group clutching is called for in response to a user providing a defined input, such as a user actuating an input device, a user applying a force to the manipulators, or any other convenient user input. In response to making this identification, the electronic controller may determine an appropriate group clutch mode and send driving signals to the actuators and brakes of the manipulators accordingly.

[041] For example, in some embodiments, an input device designated as a clutch input device configured to place the system in a clutch mode is used to notify the electronic controller that group clutched motion is desired. In some embodiments, a same clutch input device is used to initiate individual manipulator clutching and group clutching (this will be described in greater detail below), while in other embodiments a clutch input device specific to group clutching may be provided to initiate a group clutch mode. The clutch input device may comprise a button, a touch-sensor (e.g., capacitive input), a proximity sensor (e.g., a visual, thermal, or other sensor that senses the presence of a user’s hands near a defined position), or any other input device. In some embodiments, such a clutch input may be disposed on each of the manipulators or near such manipulators (e.g., on a table, display, console, or rail near the manipulators) and may be actuated (e.g., contacted, depressed, or otherwise actuated) by the user to signal to the controller that clutched movement is desired and may be no longer actuated (e.g., released or otherwise interacted with to no longer actuate) to signal to the controller that clutched movement is no longer desired. In some embodiments, the clutch input may be disposed at a location that is convenient for a user to grasp for manually moving the manipulator, such as on a distal link or instrument holder of the manipulator, so that by the action of grasping the manipulator the user also actuates the clutch input, and by the action of releasing the manipulator the user also ceases actuation of the clutch input.

[042] As noted above, in some embodiments, the same clutch input may be used for both single-manipulator clutched motion and group-clutched motion, with the electronic controller distinguishing which type of clutched motion is called for based on set criteria. For example, in some embodiments, when the clutch input of a single manipulator is pressed, the electronic controller interprets this as a request to provide single-manipulator clutched motion for that manipulator. However, when the clutch inputs of two manipulators are pressed concurrently (e.g., because a user has grasped two manipulators and actuated two different clutch inputs), the electronic controller interprets this as a request to provide group clutched motion for a group of manipulators (which includes the two grasped manipulators, and potentially others as well as defined by the system). As another example, in some embodiments, a single press-and-hold of a clutch input of a manipulator may be interpreted as a call for single manipulator clutching, while group clutched motion may be initiated by pressing the clutch input on a single manipulator multiple times within a defined time window (e.g., a double press and then hold or various other combinations programmed into the system, as would be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art).

[043] In some embodiments, the controller may also be configured to identify when multiple users are concurrently grasping manipulators and may take different actions depending on whether a single user or multiple users are concurrently grasping manipulators. For example, in some embodiments if a single user concurrently grasps two manipulators (or otherwise actuates two clutch inputs) the controller may initiate a group clutch mode as described above, whereas if two separate users concurrently grasp manipulators the controller may engage individual clutched motion for the grasped manipulators, or may engage group clutched motion for two different groups (e.g., one group following the manual inputs of one user while another group follows the manual motions of the other user). Multiple users concurrently grasping manipulators may be detected in a variety of ways. For example, cameras or other sensors may detect which manipulators are being grasped by which users. As another example, the system may transmit (e.g., capacitively inject) an electrical signal into the hand grasping a first manipulator and sense for the same signal to be received at a second grasped manipulator — if the signal is received at the second grasped manipulator, then the controller can infer that the same user is grasping both manipulators, whereas if the signal is not received at the second grasped manipulator then it can be inferred that different users are grasping the two manipulators.

[044] In some embodiments, rather than using the same clutch input for both single-manipulator clutched motion and group clutched motion, separate clutch inputs may be provided for each. Thus, in these examples, group clutch motion may be initiated by pressing an input that is specific to group-clutched motion. Such a group clutch input may be located on a manipulator as described above, or somewhere else in the system, such as at a console, a foot pedal, or other separate input.

[045] In some embodiments, the user input that informs the electronic controller to initiate clutched motion does not necessarily comprise the actuation of a particular input device, such as a button. Instead, in some embodiments a user may signal to the controller that clutch motion is desired by manually applying forces to one or more manipulators. The controller may sense the application of these forces via one or more sensors disposed throughout the manipulator, which may be separate from or integrally part of the actuators/brakes of the manipulator, and the controller may interpret the application of these forces as a user requesting the initiation of clutched motion. In response to identifying that clutched motion is requested, the controller initiates clutched motion and begins driving the powered joints of the manipulator or group of manipulators to allow (and in some cases assist) motion of the manipulator(s) in the same direction as that in which the forces are being applied. This form of initiating clutched motion may be referred to as break-away clutching, as the manipulator may initially resist motion and then appear to break away and start moving once sufficient force has been applied for the controller to identify the force as a request for clutch motion. In some embodiments, break-away clutching may be used for initiating both single-manipulator clutching and group clutching. For example, in some embodiments single-manipulator clutching may be initiated in response to a user grasping and applying forces to a single manipulator, whereas group clutching may be initiated in response to the user grasping and applying forces to two manipulators concurrently.

[046] Any other desired type of user input that the controller can detect may be used for initiating group clutched motion (and in some cases, single-manipulator clutching also). For example, voice commands may be detected and used for initiating group clutching (and in some cases, single-manipulator clutching also). As another example, gestures (e.g., hand gestures) may be detected and used for initiating group clutching (and in some cases, single-manipulator clutching also). As another example, a token or code, such as an RFID tag, bar or QR code, magnetic identification device, or other similar token, may be embedded in a card, badge, wearable item, key fob or the like, and the user may place the token in proximity to a sensor to initiate group clutching (and in some cases, single-manipulator clutching also).

[047] In some embodiments, if a user is grasping only one manipulator at the initiation of (or at some time during) the group clutch motion, the controller may apply different constraints to the group clutch motion, or otherwise drive the motion differently, than in cases in which a user is grasping two manipulators. For instance, in some embodiments the controller may allow translation of the group but not rotation when a single manipulator is grasped but allow both translation and rotation when two manipulators are grasped. Generally, when a force is manually applied to one manipulator, it may be difficult for the controller to distinguish whether this force is being applied by the user to rotate the group or to translate the group. Thus, to avoid unintentional rotation of the group in such cases, rotation of the group may be prevented when only a single manipulator is being grasped during group clutch movement. In such cases, if a user desires to rotate the group, they may grasp another manipulator (so that two manipulators are grasped concurrently), whereupon the controller may resume normal group clutch operation and allow rotation.

[048] Moreover, in some embodiments the group clutched motion may differ depending on which portion of the manipulator a user grasped. For example, if the user grasps a proximal or intermediate link assembly of the manipulators, translation of the group may be allowed while rotation is prevented, whereas if the user grasped the manipulators on a distal link assembly both translation and rotation may be allowed. In some embodiments, multiple clutch inputs may be provided along the manipulator to allow the controller to identify where the user is grasping. In other embodiments, visual or other sensors may be used to detect where on the manipulator the user is grasping.

[049] In some embodiments, multiple different forms of inputs for initiating clutched motion may be used in the same system. For example, in some embodiments, clutch inputs are provided on the manipulators to allow for initiation of clutched motion (either single-manipulator, group clutching, or both), additional clutch inputs are provided elsewhere in the system (e.g., at a console) to allow for initiation of clutched motion (either single-manipulator, group clutching, or both), and/or break-away clutching is also provided to allow for initiation of clutched motion (either single-manipulator, group clutching, or both). Any combination or permutation of the above described inputs, or other types of user inputs, may be used in various embodiments to initiate either or both single-manipulator clutching or group clutching.

[050] As mentioned above, in group clutched motion, a defined group of manipulators are moved. This group may be user defined and/or may be defined automatically by the controller based on set criteria. Generally, the group comprises at least the one or two manipulators grasped by the user, but may also include additional manipulators as well. For example, in some embodiments, all of the manipulators of the system may be included in the group as a default, and then this default selection may be modified by excluding one or more manipulators based on a set of rules and detected conditions. For example, if one or more manipulators are not deployed or are in some other predefined configuration, then those undeployed manipulators may be excluded from the group. As another example, any manipulations that happen to already be docked with an entry port in a patient may be excluded from the group. As another example, any manipulators that are positioned farther than a defined distance (i.e., a threshold distance) from the manipulator(s) grasped by the user may be excluded from the group. The aforementioned distances may be measured between any defined locations related to the manipulators, such as a location on the instrument holding portion of each manipulator, a center of gravity of each manipulator, or any other desired locations. The electronic controller may already have the location information needed to determine the distances as the controller generally keeps track of the locations of the manipulators and their links as part of controlling their motions. As another example, a user may explicitly indicate manipulators to remove from the default group, for example by actuating inputs on the manipulators that signal they are to be removed from the group. The aforementioned exclusion rules, as well as others not explicitly mentioned above, may be combined in the same system. In addition, other default groupings may be used instead of all manipulators being the default. The default group may be preprogramed into the controller and/or user configurable. In addition, the exclusion rules may also be programmed into the controller and/or user configurable. For example, in some embodiments, the controller may be capable of using any of a number of exclusion rules and may be preconfigured to enable some or all of these rules as a default, and then a user may change which ones of the exclusion rules are enabled if desired, for example via a console or other user interface of the system.

[051] As another example, in addition to or in lieu of having a default group selected by the controller and then excluding manipulators therefrom, in some embodiments, the group may be constructed by a user explicitly indicating which manipulators are to be included in the group. For example, the user may indicate manipulators to include in the group by actuating clutch inputs on each of the manipulators that are to be included in the group. As another example, the user may select a group of manipulators by grasping two manipulators that define the group. By way of example a group may be defined by two manipulators that are grasped and any other manipulators positioned therebetween. Thus, for example, if four manipulators are positioned in a line, the user could select all of the four manipulators by grasping the two outermost manipulators, select a set of three serially adjacent manipulators by grasping the two outermost manipulators of the set, or select a set of two adjacent manipulators by grasping the two adjacent manipulators. As another example, a user may explicitly indicate the members of the group by programming the selections in advance, for example into a console or other user interface of the system.

[052] Furthermore, in some embodiments the system may be configured to provide indications to users that group clutched mode is engaged and/or which manipulators are selected for inclusion in the group. In some embodiments, lights are used as indicators. For example, lights disposed on the manipulators or near the manipulators (e.g., on a table, console, display, or rail near the manipulators) may be turned on if the manipulator is selected for the group, or specific temporal patterns (e.g., constant or coherent blinking), color patterns, spatial patterns, or other patterns of lights may be used to indicate selection in the group. As another example, audible indicators, such as an alert or chime or verbal indicator may be used to indicate that group clutched mode is engaged and/or which manipulators are selected. As another example, text or graphical visual indicators may be displayed on display screens disposed on the manipulators to indicate that group clutched mode is selected and/or which manipulators are selected, for example by displaying text (e.g., “group clutch”) or a symbol on the selected manipulators. As another example, text of graphical indications of the arms selected may be displayed on display screens outside of the manipulators, such as on vision cart display, on a display on the table, a display on or coupled to a rail, or other system display. The graphics may, for example, show arms posed to reflect actual arm poses, as seen from a top-down perspective and/or as seen from the user’s perspective (e.g., the system may be configured to estimate user location from room sensors or other means). A graphical display may alternatively show icons (e.g., circles) indicating manipulator wrist locations seen from a top-down perspective, and highlighting of the icons may be used to indicate selected manipulators. Those having ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that combinations of the aforementioned indicators may be employed.

[053] Turning now to the Figures, some embodiments are described in greater detail below.

[054] FIGs. 1 -12 illustrate an embodiment of a manipulator system 100 (“system 100”). The system 100 comprises a table assembly 101 , one or more rail assemblies 120 coupled to the table assembly (two are illustrated in FIGs. 1 -12), and multiple manipulator arms 140 (“manipulators 140”) coupled to the rail assemblies 120. Each manipulator 140 may carry one or more instruments 150, which may be removably or permanently mounted thereon.

[055] As shown in the side view of FIG. 1 and the end view of FIG. 3, the table assembly 101 comprises a platform 110 configured to support the patient or inanimate workpiece, a support column 102 coupled to and supporting the platform 110, and a base 105 coupled to the support column 102. The base 105 may be configured to contact the ground or other surface upon which the table assembly 101 rests to provide stability for the table assembly 101 . In some embodiments, the base 105 is omitted. In some embodiments, the base 105 includes mobility features, such as wheels, tracks, or other such features (not shown), to allow movement of the table assembly 101 along the ground or other surface.

[056] The platform 110 comprises one or more platform sections 103 (see FIGs. 1 and 2) to support the patient or workpiece. The platform sections 103 each have a support surface configured to contact and support the patient or workpiece. In some embodiments multiple platform sections 103 are used and the platform sections 103 are arranged in series to support different portions of the patient or workpiece. The platform sections 103 are coupled to one another and/or to the support column 102, with the support column 102 directly or indirectly supporting each of the sections 103. The platform 110 has a longitudinal dimension 198 (e.g., parallel to the x-axis in FIG. 1 ), a lateral dimension orthogonal to the longitudinal dimension (e.g., parallel to the y-axis in FIG. 3), and a thickness or height dimension orthogonal to both the longitudinal dimension 198 and lateral dimension 199 (e.g., parallel to the z-axis in FIGs. 1 and 3). In general, the longitudinal and lateral dimensions of the platform 110 and the support surfaces of the platform sections 103 are oriented roughly parallel to the ground or other surface on which the table assembly 101 is supported when the platform 110 is in a neutral configuration. However, the platform sections 103 and/or the platform 110 as a whole may be movable relative to one another and/or relative to the support column 102, such as via translation and/or rotation, and thus the platform 110 as a whole and/or individual platform sections 103 thereof do not necessarily have to be parallel to the ground. Thus, one or both of the longitudinal and/or lateral dimensions can be tilted relative to the ground in various configurations through which the platform 110 and/or platform section 103 may be movable, including in a neutral configuration in some cases.

[057] As noted above, the system 100 also comprises manipulators 140 that hold and control movement and other functionality of instruments 150 mounted thereto. The embodiment illustrated in FIGs. 1-14 comprises four manipulators, two on each side of the table assembly 101 (only two of the manipulators 140 are visible in FIGs. 1 and 2), but any number of manipulators 140 may be included (such as, for example, one, two, three, or more manipulators mounted to each rail assembly 120, as described in further detail below). A manipulator 140 may comprise a kinematic structure of links coupled together by one or more joints. For example, as shown in FIGs. 1 and 3 with respect to a representative manipulator 140, the manipulators 140 may comprise a proximal link assembly comprising a proximal arm 141 movably coupled to the rail assembly 120 via one or more proximal joints 130, an intermediate link assembly comprising an intermediate arm 142 movably coupled to the proximal link assembly via one or more intermediate joints 145, and a distal link assembly comprising a distal arm 143 movably coupled to the intermediate link assembly by one or more distal joints 146. The distal link assembly may also comprise an instrument holding portion 169 coupled to the distal arm 143 and configured to carry the instrument 150. In FIGs. 1 and 3, the links and joints of only one of the manipulators 140 are labeled to avoid obscuring the drawings, but it should be understood that each of the other manipulators 140 may also include a series of links and joints in a similar fashion. The exact configuration of the links and joints (e.g., their sizes, shapes, numbers, and/or degrees of freedom of motion) may vary from one manipulator 140 to the next in some embodiments, but all will have at least some form of proximal link assembly and some form of distal link assembly movably coupled thereto (in some cases via an intermediate link assembly) similar to those described above.

[058] The manipulators 140 are movable through various degrees of freedom of motion provided by various joints, including the proximal, intermediate, and distal joints 130, 145, and 146, thus allowing an instrument 150 mounted thereon to be moved relative to the worksite. Some of the joints may provide for rotation of links relative to one another. For example, joints 130, 145, and 146 comprise rotatable joints that allow for rotation of the bodies coupled thereto about one or more axes. Moreover, in some embodiments, the distal arm 143 is movably coupled to the instrument holding portion 169 via a wrist 147, which comprises multiple rotary joints for moving the instrument holding portion 169 relative to the distal arm 143 about multiple rotational degrees of freedom motion (e.g., pitch, yaw, and roll degrees of freedom). Other joints (not illustrated) may provide for translation of links relative to one another, and some may provide for both rotation and translation. For example, in some embodiments, the arms 141 , 142, and/or 143 are extendable and retractable via prismatic (translational) joints (not illustrated); for example, an arm 141 , 142, or 143 may comprise two or more links that are translatable relative to one another in a telescoping fashion.

[059] Some or all of the joints of the system 100 described above (as well as other joints that might be present in the system) are powered joints, meaning a powered drive element may control movement of the joint through the supply of motive power. Such powered drive elements may comprise, for example, electric motors, pneumatic or hydraulic actuators, and other types of powered drive elements those having ordinary skill in the art would be familiar with. Additionally, in some embodiments some of the joints of the system 100 may be manually articulable (e.g., unpowered) joints, which may be articulated manually for example by manually moving the links coupled thereto. Joints referred to herein as unpowered may lack powered drive elements to drive articulation of the joint but still may include other powered aspects or devices, such as electronically (or hydraulically/pneumatically, etc.) controlled brakes, sensors (e.g., position, velocity, force, torque sensors), or other powered devices. Additionally, some joints (whether powered or not) may also be passively counterbalanced (e.g., via masses or springs). In general, group clutch motion as described herein may involve driving motion of the powered joints.

[060] As shown in FIGs. 1-12, the manipulators 140 are coupled to the table assembly 101 via the two rail assemblies 120_1 and 120_2 provided on opposite longitudinal sides of the platform 110. The description below will describe one rail assembly 120 to simplify the description, but the other rail assemblies 120 may be configured similarly. As shown in FIGs. 1 and 3, the rail assembly 120 comprises a rail 121 and a number of carriages 126 (also “first carriages 126”) coupled to the rail 121 and to the manipulators 140 to allow motion of the manipulators 140 along the rail 121. More specifically, the first carriage 126 may be coupled to the proximal arm 141 of a corresponding manipulator 140. Each carriage 126 is moveable along a longitudinal dimension 197 of the rail 121 and couples a respectively corresponding one of the manipulators 140 to the rail 121 such that the manipulators 140 can translate relative to the rail 121 along the longitudinal dimension 197 of the rail 121. The carriage 126 may thus be considered as another joint of the manipulator 140. In some embodiments, the longitudinal dimension 197 of the rail 121 is parallel to the longitudinal dimension 198 of the platform 110 (e.g., parallel to the x-axis) in a neutral configuration of the platform 110, as shown in FIG. 1 . In FIG. 1 , one first carriage 126 is shown per manipulator 140, but multiple first carriages 126 could be provided to operably couple to and support a given manipulator 140.

[061] In some embodiments, in addition to the manipulators 140 being movable along the rail 121 , the rail 121 optionally may also be movable relative to the table assembly 101. In such embodiments, the rail assembly 120 also comprises one or more carriages 127 (also referred to as “second carriages 127”) coupled to the rail 121 and to the table assembly 101 to allow motion of the rail 121. More specifically, the carriages 127 couple the rail 121 to the table assembly 101 such that the rail 121 can translate relative to the table assembly 101 along a direction of the longitudinal dimension 197 of the rail 121 . In some embodiments, the translation between the rail 121 and the table assembly 101 is provided by relative motion between the second carriages 127 and the rail 121. For example, in some embodiments the second carriages 127 are fixed relative to the table assembly 101 and the rail 121 and second carriages 127 are movably coupled together such that the rail 121 translates relative to the second carriages 127 along the direction of the longitudinal dimension 197 of the rail 121. In some embodiments, the translation of the rail 121 and the table assembly 101 is provided by relative motion between the second carriages 127 and the table assembly 101. For example, in some embodiments the second carriages 127 are fixed relative to the rail 121 and movably coupled to the table assembly 101 such that translation of the second carriages 127 relative to the table assembly 101 along the longitudinal dimension 197 causes the rail 121 to also translate relative to the table assembly 101. In some embodiments, the translation between the rail 121 and the table assembly 101 is provided by a combination of relative motion between the second carriages 127 and the rail 121 and relative motion of the second carriages 127 and the table assembly 101. In some embodiments in which the second carriages 127 are movably coupled to the table assembly 101 , the rail assembly 120 further comprises a second rail 124, which may be coupled between the second carriages 127 and the table assembly 101. In other embodiments the second carriages 127 may be coupled directly to the table assembly 101. One second carriage 127 is shown in FIG. 1 for ease of description, but any number could be used, including none in some embodiments. In other embodiments, the second carriages 127 are omitted and the rail 121 is fixed relative to the table assembly 101 or platform 110. In some embodiments, the rail assembly 120 is coupled to one of the platform sections 103. In other embodiments, the rail assembly 120 is coupled to the support column 102.

[062] In some embodiments, motors or other actuation devices (not illustrated) are provided to drive the relative translation between the rail 121 and the first carriages 126. Similarly, in embodiments in which the second carriages 127 are present, motors or other actuation devices (not illustrated) may be provided to drive the relative translation between the rail 121 and the second carriages 127 and/or between the second carriages 127 and the table assembly 101. In some embodiments, motors/actuators are housed within the rail 121 . In some embodiments, motors/actuators are housed within the first and/or second carriages 126 and 127. In some embodiments, motors/actuators are housed within the table assembly 101.

[063] In some embodiments, the motion of the manipulators 140 relative to the platform 110 enabled by the rail assembly 120 allows the distal link assemblies of the manipulators 140 to be moved between various configurations in which one or more manipulators are positioned over the platform 110, such as those configurations illustrated in FIGs. 1 and 3-9 for example, and configurations in which the manipulators are positioned beyond an end portion of the platform 110, for example with the intermediate and distal link assemblies of the manipulators 140 having been swung around and adjacent to an end of the platform 110 platform 110, as shown in FIGs. 2, 10-14. The configurations with the manipulators 140 above the platform 110 may be used, for example, during a procedure, during setting up for a procedure, and/or while transitioning between configurations. The configurations with the manipulators 140 positioned beyond and adjacent to an end of the platform 110 may be used, for example, during a process of draping and undraping the manipulators 140. These configurations may all be examples of deployed configurations because one or more of the manipulators 140 are deployed therein. The manipulators 140 may also be moved between the aforementioned deployed configurations and a stowed configuration (not illustrated) in which the manipulators 140 are all stowed in a compacted (e.g., folded) state under the platform 110.

[064] As noted above, the instrument holding portion 169 of a manipulator 1 0 is configured to support an instrument 150, and in some embodiments, the instrument holding portion 169 comprises a drive interface (e.g., an actuation drive interface) to removably couple the instrument 150 to the system and to provide driving inputs (e.g., mechanical forces, electrical inputs, etc.) to drive an instrument coupled thereto. For example, the drive interface may comprise drive output couplers (not illustrated) to engage (directly or indirectly via an intermediary) with drive input couplers (not illustrated) of the instrument 150 to provide driving forces or other inputs to the mounted instrument 150 to control various degree of freedom movement and/or other functionality of the instrument 150, such as moving an end-effector of the instrument, opening/closing jaws, driving translation and/or rotation of a variety of components of the instrument, delivery of substances and/or energy from the instrument, and various other functions those of ordinary skill in the art are familiar with. The drive output couplers may be driven by actuators (e.g., electrical servo-motors, hydraulic actuators, pneumatic actuators) with which those of ordinary skill in the art have familiarity. An instrument sterile adaptor (ISA) may be disposed between the instrument 150 and the instrument manipulator mount interface to maintain sterile separation between the instrument 150 and the manipulator 140. The instrument manipulator mount may also comprise other interfaces (not illustrated), such as electrical interfaces to provide and/or receive electrical signals to/from the instrument 150. The instruments 150 may include any tool or instrument, including for example industrial instruments and medical instruments (e.g., surgical instruments, imaging instruments, diagnostic instruments, therapeutic instruments, etc.). In some embodiments, the system 100 can include flux delivery transmission capability as well, such as, for example, to supply electricity, fluid, vacuum pressure, light, electromagnetic radiation, etc. to the end effector. In other embodiments, such flux delivery transmission may be provided to an instrument through another auxiliary system 1008, described further below and as those of ordinary skill in the art would be familiar with in the context of computer-assisted, teleoperated medical systems.

[065] In some embodiments, aspects of the manipulators 140 may be similar to the manipulators described in US Patent Application No. 63/336,840, entitled “TABLEMOUNTED MANIPULATOR SYSTEM, AND RELATED DEVICES, SYSTEMS AND METHODS,” or those described in, for example, U.S. Patent No. 9,358,074 (filed May 31 , 2013) to Schena et al., entitled “Multi-Port Surgical Robotic System Architecture,” U.S. Patent No. 9,295,524 (filed May 31 , 2013) to Schena et al., entitled “Redundant Axis and Degree of Freedom for Hardware-Constrained Remote Center Robotic Manipulator,” and U.S. Patent No. 8,852,208 (filed August 12, 2010) to Gomez et al., entitled “Surgical System Instrument Mounting,” the contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Although the system 100 is illustrated and described as a table mounted manipulator system, in other embodiments manipulator systems are contemplated in which manipulators are coupled to a structure other than a table, such as to a patient side cart (such as multiple manipulators supported by a single cart and/or individual manipulators supported by separate carts), the ceiling, or other object in the environment, and the principles described herein in relation to the system 100, particularly those related to clutched motion as described in greater detail below, are also applicable to such other systems. Various other embodiments manipulator systems can include, for example, various da Vinci® Surgical Systems, such as the da Vinci X®, da Vinci Xi®, and da Vinci SP systems, commercialized by Intuitive Surgical, Inc., of Sunnyvale, California.

[066] The number, locations, and types of links and joints of the manipulators, as well as the various degrees of freedom of motion thereof, are not limited to those described above. In some embodiments, manipulators comprise additional links, joints, and/or degrees of freedom beyond those described above. In other embodiments, manipulators may omit certain of the links, joints, and/or degrees of freedom described above. Embodiments contemplated herein include embodiments comprising various combinations of one or more of the links, joints, and degrees of freedom of motion described above.

[067] As shown in FIG. 1 , the system 100 may also comprise a control system 1006 and a user input and feedback system 1004. The system 100 may also optionally comprise an auxiliary system 1008. Some or all of these components may be provided at a location remote from the table assembly 101 . The user input and feedback system 1004 is operably coupled to the control system 1006 and comprises one or more input devices to receive input control commands to control motions and/or operations of the manipulators 140, instruments 150, rails assembly 120, and/or table assembly 101. Such input devices may include but are not limited to, for example, telepresence input devices, triggers, grip input devices, buttons, switches, pedals, joysticks, trackballs, data gloves, trigger-guns, gaze detection devices, voice recognition devices, body motion or presence sensors, touchscreen technology, or any other type of device for registering user input. In some cases, an input device may be provided with the same degrees of freedom as the associated instrument that they control, and as the input device is actuated, the instrument, through drive inputs from the manipulator assembly, is controlled to follow or mimic the movement of the input device, which may provide the user a sense of directly controlling the instrument. Telepresence input devices may provide the operator with telepresence, meaning the perception that the input devices are integral with the instrument. The user input and feedback system 1004 may also include feedback devices, such as a display device (not shown) to display images (e.g., images of the workspace as captured by one of the instruments 1010), haptic feedback devices, audio feedback devices, other graphical user interface forms of feedback, etc.

[068] The control system 1006 may control and/or assist a user in controlling motions and/or operations of the system 100. In particular, the control system 1006 is configured to receive inputs (e.g., user inputs, sensor inputs, or other inputs) and send control signals (e.g., electrical signals) to the table assembly 101 , rail assembly 120, manipulators 140, and/or instruments 150 to control movements and/or other operations of the various parts based on such inputs, states of the system, and/or other conditions and also based on control algorithms and/or other programming programed into the control system 1006. In some embodiments, the control system 1006 may also control some or all operations of the user input and feedback system 1004, the auxiliary system 1008, or other parts of the system 100. The control system 1006 also controls clutched motion operations as described herein. The control system 1006 may include an electronic controller. The electronic controller comprises processing circuitry configured with logic for performing the various operations described herein. The logic of the processing circuitry may comprise dedicated hardware to perform various operations, software (machine readable and/or processor executable instructions) to perform various operations, or any combination thereof. In examples in which the logic comprises software, the processing circuitry may include a processor to execute the software instructions and a memory device that stores the software. The processor may comprise one or more processing devices capable of executing machine readable instructions, such as, for example, a processor, a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, a system-on-chip (SoC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a graphics processing unit (GPU), etc. In cases in which the processing circuitry includes dedicated hardware, in addition to or in lieu of the processor, the dedicated hardware may include any electronic device that is configured to perform specific operations, such as an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD), discrete logic circuits, a hardware accelerator, a hardware encoder, etc. The processing circuitry may also include any combination of dedicated hardware and processor plus software.

[069] Differing degrees of user control versus autonomous control may be utilized in the system 100, and embodiments disclosed herein may encompass fully user- controlled systems, fully autonomously-controlled systems, and systems having any combination of user and autonomous control. For operations that are user-controlled, the control system 1006 generates control signals in response to receiving a corresponding user input command, either via the user input and feedback system 1004 or via other means such as those describe herein in relation to clutched motion. For operations that are autonomously controlled, the control system 1006 may execute pre- programmed logic (e.g., a software program) and may determine and send control commands based on the programming (e.g., in response to a detected state or stimulus specified in the programming). In some systems, some operations may be user controlled and others autonomously controlled. Moreover, some operations may be partially user controlled and partially autonomously controlled — for example, a user input command may initiate performance of a sequence of events, and then the control system 1006 may perform various operations associated with that sequence without needing further user input.

[070] In particular, the control system 1006 is configured to provide a group clutch functionality which allows for group clutched motion of a defined group of manipulators 140 (in some cases, all of the manipulators 140, in other cases, a subset thereof). Group clutched motion means the group of multiple manipulators 140 are manually movable together as a group. More specifically, in the group clutched motion, a user grasps and applies forces directly to at least one (in some cases, two) of the manipulators 140 of the group, and the grasped manipulator(s) 140 are clutched to allow the user to manually move the grasped manipulator(s) 140 about. In addition to the grasped manipulator(s) 140 being clutched, the remaining manipulators 140 of the group (if any) are also actively controlled by the control system 1006 based on the motions of the grasped manipulator(s) 140 so that all of the manipulators 140 move together as a group following the lead of the user. More specifically, in the group clutch motion, the manipulators 140 moving together as a group means that the group of manipulators 140 are controlled by the control system 1006 such that distal portions thereof (e.g., the instrument holding portions 169) maintain a defined spatial relationship relative to one another during the motion. In the group clutched motion, the powered joints of the grasped manipulators 140 may be clutched, meaning that the joints are driven by the control system 1006 such that at least the distal portions of the grasped manipulators 140 are free floating and manually movable by a user, i.e., the distal portions of the manipulators 140 are supported against gravity but are moveable in at least one degree of freedom of motion (in some cases, all degrees of freedom of motion) in response to a user manually applying forces to the manipulator 140 (typically, to the distal arm 143 or instrument holder 169). In some cases, the control system 1006 may also actively assist the motion of the grasped manipulator(s) 140 in addition to supporting their weight, for example by sensing the forces applied by the user, inferring a direction of intended motion, and driving some or all of the joints to assist in that motion.

[071] As noted above, in a group clutched mode of operation, the control system 1006 drives the powered joints of the manipulators 140 of the group so as to maintain a defined spatial relationship between the distal portion of the manipulators 140. For example, in some embodiments, the instrument holding portions 169 in a group clutch are maintained in a predetermined spatial relationship. Maintaining a defined spatial relationship of the distal portions may include moving the manipulators 140 that are not grasped so as to follow the lead of the grasped manipulator(s) 140 being manually moved by the user, as described above, but it also may include constraining the motion of the grasped manipulators 140 so as to prevent certain motions thereof that would result in deviation from the defined spatial relationship, as described above.

[072] The nature of the defined spatial relationship may vary depending on a group clutch mode of the system 100. In the embodiment of FIGs. 1-14, the manipulator system 100 comprises two group clutch modes that maintain different types of defined spatial relationships during the group clutched motion. Other embodiments may have more or fewer group clutch modes in which the defined spatial relationships are defined in any desired way. FIGs. 3-9 illustrate aspects of a first group clutch mode, while FIGs. 10-14 illustrate aspects of a second group clutch mode. In both of these examples, the manipulators 140_1 , 140_2, 140_3 and 140_4 are all included in the group for the group clutched motion. In FIGs. 3-14 and in the embodiments described below, it is assumed to facilitate description that the portions that are held in the defined spatial relationship comprise the instrument holding portions 169, but as noted above the “defined portions” that are held in the defined spatial relationship may include other portions of the manipulators (or of devices mounted thereon), which may include an individual point or axis defined relative to the manipulators. For example, in some embodiments the defined portions may comprise an instrument shaft of an instrument caried by the manipulator (or an axis aligned with such a shaft), a point associated with a remote center of motion of the manipulator, a point at a tip of the instrument shaft, or other portions. Moreover, in some embodiments the defined portion may be different for different group clutch modes, and/or may change from one time to another within the same group clutch mode based on changing states or conditions. Furthermore, the defined portions may be different for different manipulators in the same group — for example, the defined portions of the grasped manipulators may differ from the defined portions of the non-grasped manipulators. Although FIGs. 1-14 illustrate a tablemounted manipulator system 100, in other embodiments a cart-based manipulator system may be used in which manipulators (e.g., similar to the manipulators 140) may be coupled to one or more movable platform(s) (carts) that is or are positioned adjacent to an operating table (e.g., two carts positioned on opposite lateral sides of the table), and the same principles and operations described herein in relation to the tablemounted manipulator system 100 may be applied to such cart-based manipulator systems.

[073] In the first group clutched mode, the defined spatial relationship maintained by the control system 1006 comprises a fixed spatial relationship (i.e., fixed relative poses) between the instrument holding portions 169 of the manipulators 140. Thus, in this example of the first mode, the active joints of the manipulators 140 are driven such that the instrument holding portions 169 of the manipulators 140 act as if they are rigidly coupled together, moving together as a group relative to the platform 110 but maintaining the same spatial relationship and poses relative to one another throughout the movement that they had at the beginning of the group clutched motion. Other portions of the manipulators 140, however, may change their poses relative to one another during the group clutched motion as needed to facilitate the motion.

[074] In the first group clutched mode, the control system 1006 drives the nongrasped manipulators 140 to follow the motions of the grasped manipulators 140 that are being manually manipulated, as well as constraining the manipulator 140 to maintain the fixed relationship of their instrument holding portions 169. To facilitate this driving of the manipulators 140, the control system 1006 may infer a direction and type of motion (e.g., translation, rotation, or combination of the two) that the user is attempting to impart based on the directions and magnitudes of ferees applied by the user to the grasped manipulators 140 and/or based on the motions thereof.

[075] For example, in the first group clutched mode, if the user grasps one or two of the manipulators 140 and moves the instrument holding portions 169 thereof along a given translation degree of freedom of motion, then the control system 1006 senses this motion (and/or sense the forces applied by the user to urge the motion) and drives the group of manipulators such that all the instrument holding portions 169 thereof move together as a group in the same direction. For example, the transition between the states illustrated in FIGs. 3 and 4 corresponds to translation of the group along a vertical degree of freedom of motion (+z or -z direction), the transition between the states illustrated in FIGs. 6 and 7 corresponds to translation of the group along a longitudinal degree of freedom of motion (+x or -x direction), and the transition between the states illustrated in FIGs. 7 and 8 corresponds to translation of the group along a lateral degree of freedom of motion (+y or -y direction). Translations in multiple degrees of freedom of motion could be combined into one motion, but only single-degree-of- freedom motions are shown to simplify the discussion. For ease of illustration, only the distal links of the manipulator arms are shown in dashed to show the translated positions described.

[076] For example, in the state illustrated in FIG. 3, in response to a user applying forces to the manipulators 140_3 and 140_4 in a -z direction as indicated by the dash- lined arrows, the control system 1006 drives the group of manipulators 140_1 , 140_2, 140_3 and 140_4 such that the instrument holding portions 169_1 , 169_2, 169_3 and 169_4 translate as a group downward along the -z direction, for example from the state illustrated in FIG. 3 to that illustrated in FIG. 4 (the positions of the instrument holding portions 169 prior to this movement are shown in dashed lines in FIG. 4). [077] S imilarly, in the state illustrated in FIG. 6, in response to a user applying forces to the manipulators 140_3 and 140_4 in a +x direction as indicated by the dash- lined arrows, the control system 1006 drives the group of manipulators 140_1 , 140_2, 140_3 and 140_4 such that the instrument holding portions 169_1 , 169_2, 169_3 and 169_4 translate as a group along the +x direction, for example from the state illustrated in FIG. 6 to that illustrated in FIG. 7 (the positions of the instrument holding portions 169 prior to this movement are shown in dashed lines in FIG. 7).

[078] Further, in the state illustrated in FIG. 7, in response to a user applying forces to the manipulators 140_3 and 140_4 in a +y direction as indicated by the dash-lined arrows, the control system 1006 drives the group of manipulators 140_1 , 140_2, 140_3 and 140_4 such that the instrument holding portions 169_1 , 169_2, 169_3 and 169_4 translate as a group along the +y direction, for example from the state illustrated in FIG. 7 to that illustrated in FIG. 8 (the positions of the instrument holding portions 169 prior to this movement are shown in dashed lines in FIG. 8).

[079] It should be understood that the user grasping the manipulators 140_3 and 140_4 and moving the instrument holding portions 169_3 and 169_4 along the translational degrees of freedom of motion as described above in relation to FIGs. 3, 4, and 6-8 is just one example of how translation of the group could be caused. Similar translation of the group could be caused by the user grasping any two of the manipulators 140 and moving the instrument holding portions 169 thereof along a translational degree of freedom of motion in a fashion similar to that described above. Moreover, in some examples in which group clutched motion can be driven by a user holding a single manipulator 140, then translation of the group may be caused by a user grasping any one of the manipulators 140 and moving the instrument holding portion 169 thereof.

[080] Furthermore, in some embodiments, rotations may also be allowed in the first group clutched mode. In particular, if the user grasps two of the manipulators 140 and moves the instrument holding portions 169 thereof in opposite rotational directions, moves the instrument holding portions 169 thereof in generally the same directions but at different rates, or holds one instrument holding portion 169 translationally stationary while moving the other instrument holding portions 169, then in response the control system 1006 drives the group of manipulators 140 such that all the instrument holding portions 169 thereof rotate together as a group about an axis, with the axis being defined by the direction of motion of the two instrument holding portions 169. For example, the transition between the states illustrated in FIGs. 4 and 5 corresponds to rotation of the group about a longitudinal axis of rotation (an axis parallel to the longitudinal dimension 198 and the x-axis), and the transition between the states illustrated in FIGs. 8 and 9 corresponds to rotation of the group about a vertical axis of rotation (an axis parallel to the z-axis). Rotation about a lateral axis (parallel to the lateral dimension 199 and y-axis) can also be achieved, but is not illustrated herein. Rotations about other axes could also be made, but such rotations are functionally equivalent to multiple rotations about the axes mentioned above, and thus are not shown to simplify the discussion. In some cases, the rotation may also be combined with translation, but to simplify the description only rotation is discussed below.

[081] For example, suppose that in the state illustrated in FIG. 4, a user applies forces in opposite rotational directions to two of the manipulators, the rotational directions being in a vertical plane parallel to the lateral dimension 199 and perpendicular to the longitudinal dimension 198, such as the forces indicated by the dash-lined arrows in FIG. 4 applied to the manipulators 140_1 and 140_3. In response, the control system 1006 drives the group of manipulators 140_1 , 140_2, 140_3 and 140_4 such that the instrument holding portions 169_1 , 169_2, 169_3 and 169_4 are rotated as a group about a longitudinal axis of rotation (i.e. , an axis of rotation parallel to the longitudinal dimension 198 and x-axis). For example, the rotation as a group about a longitudinal axis may comprise rotation from the state illustrated in FIG. 4 to that illustrated in FIG. 5 (the former position of the instrument holding portion 169_3 before the movement is shown in dashed lines in FIG. 5). The location of the longitudinal axis of rotation will vary depending on how the user moves the manipulators 140. For example, if the user moves the manipulators 140_1 and 140_3 equally in opposite directions, then the instrument holding portions 169_1 , 169_2, 169_3 and 169_4 may rotate as a group about a longitudinal axis of rotation 192 extending through a center of the group as shown in FIG. 5. As another example, if the user moves the instrument holding portion 169_3 upward while holding the instrument holding portion 169_1 translationally stationary, then the instrument holding portions 169_1 , 169_2, 169_3 and 169_4 may rotate as a group about a longitudinal axis of rotation 193 extending through or near the instrument holding portion 169_1 , as shown in FIG. 5. Moving both the instrument holding portion 169_3 and instrument holding portion 169_1 in opposite directions but at different rates may result in the longitudinal axis of rotation being located elsewhere, such as between the axes 192 and 193. It should be understood that the user grasping and moving the manipulators 140_3 and 140_1 to cause rotation of the group is just one example of how such rotation could be caused. Similar rotation about a longitudinal axis could be caused by the user grasping and moving any two of the manipulators 140 in a fashion similar to that described above.

[082] Similarly, in the state illustrated in FIG. 8, in response to a user applying forces in opposite rotational directions to two of the manipulators 140, with the opposite rotational directions being in a horizontal plane parallel to the lateral and longitudinal dimensions 199 and 198, such as the forces indicated by the dash-lined arrows in FIG. 8 applied to the manipulators 140_3 and 140_1 , the control system 1006 drives the group of manipulators 140_1 , 140 2, 140_3 and 140_4 such that the instrument holding portions 169_1 , 169_2, 169_3 and 169_4 are rotated as a group about a vertical axis of rotation (i.e. , an axis of rotation perpendicular to the lateral and longitudinal dimensions 199 and 198 and parallel to the z-axis). For example, the rotation as a group about a vertical axis of rotation may comprise rotation from the state illustrated in FIG. 8 to that illustrated in FIG. 9 (the former position of the instrument holding portion 169_1 before the movement is shown in dashed lines in FIG. 9). As described above in relation to the longitudinal axis of rotation, the location of the vertical axis of rotation will vary depending on how the user moves the manipulators 140. [083] In some embodiments, in the first group clutched mode the defined portion may be, for at least some of the manipulators, an instrument shaft 151 of an instrument 150 carried by the manipulator (or an axis aligned therewith) instead of the instrument holding portion 169. While using the instrument holding portion 169 as the defined portion does result in maintaining the relative poses of the instrument shafts 151 (since the instruments 150 are mounted to the instrument holding portions 169), this may prevent repositioning of the instrument holding portions 169 in certain ways, such as rotating the instrument holding portion 169 around the axis aligned with the shaft 151. Such rotation may sometimes be desired, for example to allow a difficult position or pose to be reached and/or to avoid collisions. By using the instrument shaft 151 as the defined portion, various embodiments allow such rotations to occur while still maintaining the relative poses of the shafts 151 . On the other hand, it may be desirable to avoid such rotation of the instrument holding portions 169 in some circumstances — such as when a user is grasping the instrument holding portion 169 — and thus in some embodiments the controller may use the instrument holding portions 169 as the defined portions for grasped manipulators 140 while using the instrument shafts 151 as the defined portions for the non-grasped manipulators 140. In some embodiments, the instrument holding portions 169 may be used as the defined portions during some portions of an operation (such as moving the group of manipulators 140 down from a position at which they were initially deployed to a position near the entry ports) and then the controller may switch to using the instrument holding portions 169 as the defined portion for at least some of the manipulators 140 upon the manipulators reaching a defined location, such as a location within a threshold proximity to the entry ports, a location within a threshold proximity to a point on the table, or any other defined location.

[084] As another example, in a second group clutched mode, the defined spatial relationship maintained by the control system 1006 comprises a variable spatial relationship. Although the spatial relationship is variable in this mode, it is nevertheless defined because the spatial relationship is determined based on a predefined set of rules. For example, in some embodiments the variable spatial relationship maintained in the second group clutched mode comprises moving one subset of the group of manipulators 140 in an anti-coordinated (e.g., mirrored) fashion relative to another subset of the group of manipulators 140 along one or more degrees of freedom of motion. For example, in some embodiments the manipulators 140 coupled to the table on one lateral side of a longitudinal center 191 of the system 100 (i.e. , the manipulators 140 coupled to one rail assembly 120), may form one subset, and the manipulators 140 on the other lateral side of the longitudinal center 191 (i.e., the manipulators 140 coupled to the other rail assembly 120) may form the other subset, and these subsets may be controlled to move in an anti-coordinated manner relative to one another in a lateral degree of freedom of motion. Motions of the manipulators 140 in other directions may remain coordinated. Thus, ipsilateral manipulators 140 may move together in a coordinated fashion for all degrees of freedom, whereas contralateral manipulators 140 may move in a coordinated fashion for some degrees of freedom but may move in opposite directions as one another when it comes to a lateral degree of freedom. In other words, in these examples, motion of the manipulators 140 is mirrored across the longitudinal center 191 of the system. Note that the longitudinal center 191 corresponds to a vertical plane parallel to the longitudinal dimension 198 and a height dimension 196 and located at a center of the platform 110 along the lateral dimension 199, as shown in FIGs. 3 and 10. Although a plane, for ease of description the longitudinal center 191 may occasionally be referred to as a centerline.

[085] Thus, for example, in the state illustrated in FIGs. 10 and 12, in response to a first manipulator 140_1 on one side of the centerline being grasped by a user and moved laterally along a -y direction as indicated by the dash-lined arrows in FIGs. 10 and 12, the control system 1006 will drive the other manipulator 140_2 on that same side of the centerline 191 to move in a coordinated fashion with the first manipulator 140_1 . The type of coordination may vary from one embodiment to another. In some embodiments, the manipulators 140 on the same side of the center 191 are driven to move in the same direction as one another for one or more degrees of freedom of motion. For example, in the embodiment illustrated in FIGs. 11 and 13, the second manipulator 140_2 is driven to also move in the same -y direction as the first manipulator 140_1 , as shown in FIGs. In some embodiments, the manipulators 140 may be driven to move at different rates, depending on their location. For example, an outermost manipulator (e.g., 140_1 ) may be controlled to move at a greater rate than a more inner manipulator (e.g., 140_2) on the same side, resulting in the manipulators 140_1 and 140_2 spreading out along the y-direction in response to the manipulator 140_1 being moved in the -y direction, as shown in FIGs. 11 and 13.

[086] In other embodiments (not illustrated), the manipulators 140 on the same side of the center 191 may be driven to move at a same rate as one another (following the manual inputs of the user) in one or more degrees of freedom, in which case they may maintain a relative spacing therebetween in that degree of freedom instead of spreading out.

[087] In still other embodiments (not illustrated), the manipulators 140 on the same side of the centerline 191 do not maintain any specific relationship relative to one another along one or more degrees of freedom — for example, in some embodiments the manipulators 140_1 and 140_2 may be freely moved by a user relative to one another in the ±y-directions without the controller maintaining any defined relationship therebetween in that degree of freedom (although the manipulators 140 may maintain a defined relationship for motions in other degrees of freedom of motion). In such embodiments in which the manipulators 140 on the same side of the center 191 are not controlled by the system to move together along ±y-directions, the spreading motion that is illustrated between FIGs. 10 and 11 may be achieved by the user grasping both the manipulator 140_1 and 140_2 and moving them apart from one another (e.g., moving them both in the -y direction but moving the manipulator 140_1 faster than the manipulator 140_2, or moving the manipulator 140_1 in the -y direction while holding the manipulator 140_2 stationary, or moving the manipulator 140_1 in the -y direction while moving the manipulator 140_2 in the +y direction).

[088] Furthermore, in response to the motion of the first manipulator 140_1 and second manipulator 140_2 on one side of the center 191 (regardless of how that motion is achieved under any the various embodiments described above), the control system 1006 will drive the manipulators 140_3 and 140_4 on the other side of the center 191 to move in a lateral direction opposite (e.g., mirroring) that of the first manipulator 140_111 and 13. and second manipulator 140_2, e.g., a +y direction, as shown in FIGs. 11 and 13. For example, the manipulators 140 on one side may be driven to mirror those on the other side based on the relative positioning of the respective manipulators. For example, in FIGs. 10-13, the two outermost manipulators 140_3 and 140_1 are mirrored in the y-direction (the manipulator 140_3 is driven to mirror the motions of the manipulator 140_1 in the y-directions if the manipulator 140_1 is being moved by the user, or vice versa) and the two innermost manipulators 140_2 and 140_4 are mirrored in the y-directions (e.g., the manipulator 140_4 is driven to mirror the motions of the manipulator 140_2 in the y-directions if the manipulator 140_2 is being moved by the user, or vice versa). Such mirroring across the center 191 along the y-directions may allow, for example, the manipulators 140 to be easily spread out from a relatively closely packed arrangement such as that illustrated in FIG. 10 to a relatively spread-out arrangement such as that illustrate din FIG. 11 , or vice versa, with the user only having to apply forces to one or two (depending on the embodiment) of the manipulators 140 to achieve the desired motion and arrangement. This may make certain operations, such as draping or undraping the manipulators 140 faster and easier.

[089] Although the second mode is described above in relation to states in which the manipulators 140 are at the end of the platform 110, the second mode could be used in other states as well, such as the states illustrated in FIGs. 3 or FIG. 4 in which the manipulators are positioned above the platform 110. For example, if the second mode were used in the state in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4 and if the manipulator 140_1 and/or 140_2 were pulled by a user laterally away from the longitudinal center 191 , this would result in the manipulators 140_3 and 140_4 being driven to also move away from the longitudinal center 191 but in the opposite direction.

[090] As noted above, in some embodiments in the second group clutch mode the controller drives all the manipulators 140 to move in a coordinated fashion, without any mirroring, for one or more degrees of freedom of motion other than the lateral direction (y-direction). For example, in the state illustrated in FIG. 13, in response to the first manipulator 140 being moved in vertical direction (z-direction), the control system 1006 drives all of the other manipulators 140 (on both sides of the centerline) to follow this motion, as shown in FIG. 14. In some embodiments, the same thing may occur for motion in a longitudinal direction (x-direction). Thus, in this example the manipulators 140 move in a coordinated fashion in degrees of freedom of motion other than lateral motion, and in an anti-coordinated fashion for lateral motion. Although anti-coordinated motion in a single degree of freedom (e.g., mirroring about a single plane) is described, in other embodiments anti-coordinated motion may be used for multiple degrees of freedom of motion (e.g., mirroring about multiple planes). Moreover, degrees of freedom of motion other than the lateral degree of freedom of motion may be used for the anticoordinated motion.

[091] The control system 1006 may be programmed to determine which mode to use for a given group clutched movement based on various criteria, e.g., based on the current state of the system 100 and/or sensed conditions. For example, the control system 1006 may determine positions of the manipulators 140 and select a group clutched mode based thereon. For example, the control system 1006 may select the first group clutch mode when the manipulators 140 are in a deployed position over the platform 110, and select the second group clutch mode when the manipulators 140 are in a deployed positioned at or beyond an end of the platform 110 or positioned over the platform 110 in certain states (e.g., a state after ending of a procedure or prior to a deployed-for-docking state). In some embodiments, the control system 1006 may select the modes based on a state of the system, which the control system 1006 keeps track of. For example, the first mode may be selected in a deployed for docking state and the second mode may be selected in a draping or undraping state or procedure completed state. In some embodiments, the control system 1006 may select a mode based on user input. In some embodiments, the modes may be both user selected and automatically selected (e.g., a mode may be automatically selected by default and a user may override that selection if desired). [092] The control system 1006 may be configured to identify that group clutched motion is called for in response to a user providing a defined input, such as a user actuating an input device of the user input and feedback system 1004, a user applying a force to the manipulators 140, or any other convenient user input. In response to making this identification, the control system 1006 may determine an appropriate group clutch mode and send driving signals to the actuators and brakes of the manipulators 140 accordingly.

[093] For example, in some embodiments, a clutch input device 161 is used to notify the control system 1006 that group clutched motion is desired. The clutch input device 161 may comprise a button, touch-sensor (e.g., capacitive input), a proximity sensor (e.g., a visual, thermal, or other sensor that senses the presence of a user’s hands near a defined position), or any other input device. In some embodiments, such a clutch input 161 may be disposed on each of the manipulators 140 , as shown in FIG. 3, and may be pressed (or otherwise actuated) by the user to signal to the control system 1006 that clutched movement is desired and may be released (or no longer actuated) to signal to the control system 1006 that clutched movement is no longer needed. In some embodiments, the clutch input 161 may be disposed at a location that is convenient for a user to grasp for manually moving the manipulator 140, such as on a distal link 143 of the manipulator 140 as shown in FIG. 3 or on the instrument holding portion 169. In some embodiments, the clutch input 161 may be located on an object near the manipulators 140, such as on the table, display, console, or rail near the manipulators.

[094] In some embodiments, the same clutch input 161 may be used for both single-manipulator clutched motion and group-clutched motion, with the control system 1006 distinguishing which type of clutched motion is called for based on the context. For example, in some embodiments, when the clutch input 161 of a single manipulator 140 is pressed, the control system 1006 interprets this as a request to provide singlemanipulator clutched motion for that manipulator 140. However, when the clutch inputs 161 of two manipulators 140 are pressed concurrently (e.g., because a user has grasped two manipulators 140), the control system 1006 interprets this as a request to provide group clutched motion for a group of manipulators 1 0 (which includes the two grasped manipulators 140, and potentially others as well). As another example, in some embodiments, a single press-and-hold of a clutch input 161 of a manipulator 140 may be interpreted as an input command for single manipulator 140 clutching, while group clutched motion may be initiated by pressing the clutch input 161 on a single manipulator 140 multiple times within a defined time window (e.g., a double press and then hold).

[095] In some embodiments, rather than using the same clutch input 161 for both single-manipulator 140 clutched motion and group clutched motion, separate clutch inputs (not illustrated) may be provided for each. Thus, in these examples, group clutch motion may be initiated by pressing an input that is specific to group-clutched motion. Such a group clutch input may be located on a manipulator 140 as described above, or somewhere else in the system, such as at a console. Moreover, in some embodiments there may be multiple different clutch buttons positioned on each manipulators 140, such as a clutch button on the instrument holder portion 169, a clutch button on the distal arm 143, and other clutch buttons. These clutch buttons may all do the same thing in some embodiments, and multiple are provided merely for convenience of the user. In other embodiments, these different clutch buttons may have different effects. For example, grasping the clutch button on the instrument holding portion 169 may provide for clutched movement of a portion of the manipulator 140 relative to a remainder of the manipulators 140 while the rest of the manipulator 140 remains rigid. In examples in which multiple clutch buttons are present on the same manipulator, in some cases a single one of the clutch buttons may be used for initiating group clutching, while in other cases any one of the clutch buttons may be used for initiating group clutching, and in other cases multiple clutch buttons on a single manipulator 140 may be used to initiate group clutching.

[096] In some embodiments, the user input that informs the control system 1006 that initiation of clutched motion is being requested does not necessarily comprise the actuation of a particular input device, such as a button. Instead, in some embodiments a user may signal to the control system 1006 that clutch motion is desired by manually applying forces to one or more manipulators 140, also referred to herein as break-away clutching as described above. The control system 1006 may sense the application of these forces via one or more sensors (not illustrated) disposed throughout the manipulator 140, which may be separate from or integrally part of the actuators/brakes of the manipulator 140, and the control system 1006 may interpret the application of these forces as a user requesting the initiation of clutched motion. In some embodiments, break away clutching may be used for initiating both single-manipulator clutching and group clutching. For example, in some embodiments single-manipulator clutching may be initiated in response to a user grasping and applying forces to a single manipulator 140, whereas group clutching may be initiated in response to the user grasping and applying forces to two manipulators 140 concurrently.

[097] In some embodiments, multiple different forms of inputs for initiating clutched motion may be used in the same system. For example, in some embodiments clutch inputs 161 are provided on the manipulators 140 to allow for initiation of clutched motion (either single-manipulator, group clutching, or both), and break-away clutching is also provided to allow for initiation of clutched motion (either single-manipulator, group clutching, or both).

[098] As mentioned above, in group clutched motion a defined group of manipulators 140 are moved. This group may be user defined and/or may be defined automatically by the control system 1006 based on context. Generally, the group comprises at least the one or two manipulators 140 grasped by the user, but may also include additional manipulators 140 as well. For example, in some embodiments, all of the manipulators 140 of the system 100 may be included in the group as a default, and then this default selection may be modified by excluding one or more manipulators 140 based on a set of rules and detected conditions. For example, if one or more manipulators 140 are not deployed or are in some other predefined configuration, then those undeployed manipulators 140 may be excluded from the group. As another example, any manipulations 140 that are already docked with an entry port in a patient may be excluded from the group. As another example, any manipulators 140 that are positioned farther than a defined distance (i.e. , a threshold distance) from the manipulator(s) 140 grasped by the user may be excluded from the group. The aforementioned distances may be measured between any defined locations on or otherwise related to the manipulators 140, such as a point on the instrument holding portion 169 of each manipulator 140, a center of gravity of each manipulator 140, or any other desired locations. The control system 1006 may already have the location information needed to determine the distances as the control system 1006 generally keeps track of the locations of the manipulators 140 and their links as part of controlling their motions. As another example, a user may explicitly indicate manipulators 140 to remove from the default group, for example by actuating inputs on the manipulators 140 that signal they are to be removed from the group.

[099] As another example, in addition to or in lieu of having a default group selected by the controller and then excluding manipulators 140 therefrom, in some embodiments the group may be constructed by a user explicitly indicating which manipulator 140 are to be included in the group. For example, the user may indicate manipulators 140 to be included in the group by actuating clutch inputs on each of the manipulators 140 that are to be included in the group. As another example, the user may select a group of manipulators 140 by grasping two manipulators 140 that define the group, such as a group including those two manipulators 140 and any other manipulators 140 positioned therebetween. Thus, for example, if four manipulators 140 are positioned in a line, the user could select all of the four manipulators 140 by grasping the two outermost manipulators, select a set of three serially adjacent manipulators 140 by grasping the two outermost manipulators 140 of the set, or select a set of two adjacent manipulators 140 by grasping the two adjacent manipulators 140. As another example, a user may explicitly indicate the members of the group by programming the selections in advance, for example into a console or other user interface of the system.

[100] In some embodiments, the control system 1006 may be configured to end group clutching, remove one or more manipulators from the group of manipulators, or adjust the coordinated movement in response to identifying one or more conditions, such as that a collision of one of the manipulators in the group with another object is impending or has occurred, or that one of the manipulators in the group has reached a range-of-motion (ROM) limit. In examples in which group clutching is ended entirely in response to detecting such a condition, the control system 1006 may stop movement of all manipulators in the group. In examples in which a manipulator is removed from the group in response to such a condition, the removed manipulator may be the one for which collision or reaching the ROM limit is impending, and that removed manipulator may be stopped from moving with the rest of the group, whereas the remaining members of the group may continue moving as a group. In examples in which, coordinated movement is adjusted in response to such a condition, the adjustment may include allowing the manipulator for which collision or ROM limit is impending to keep moving with the group to the extent possible but adjusting the motion of the manipulator from what would normally be dictated by the coordinated movement so as to avoid the collision or ROM limit. In such a case, the movement of the group might not perfectly maintain the spatial relationship between the defined portions that would otherwise normally be maintained during group clutching.

[101] Furthermore, in some embodiments the system 100 may be configured to provide indications to users that group clutched mode is engaged and/or which manipulators 140 are selected for inclusion in the group. In some embodiments, visual indicators 162 are provided on the manipulators 140, as shown in FIG. 3, to that group clutched mode is engaged and/or which manipulators 140 are selected for inclusion in the group. The visual indicators 162 may comprise lights (e.g., LEDs), which may be turned on if the manipulator 140 is selected for the group, or specific temporal patterns (e.g., constant or coherent blinking), color patterns, a spatial patterns, or other patterns of lights may be used to indicate selection in the group. As another example, the visual indicators 162 may comprise display screens and text or graphical indicator may be displayed thereon to indicate that group clutched mode is selected and/or which manipulators are selected. For example by the text “group clutch” (or similar text) or a symbol indicative of group clutching may be displayed on those manipulators 140 selected for inclusion in the group. As another example, audible indicators, such as an alert or chime or verbal indicator may be made to indicate that group clutched mode is engaged and/or which manipulators 140 are selected. As another example, text or graphical indications may be displayed on display screens that are not disposed on the manipulators, such as on the table, rail, a vision cart display, or other system display. The graphics may, for example, show arms posed to reflect actual arm poses, as seen from a top-down perspective and/or as seen from the user’s perspective if user location can be estimated from room sensors or other means. For example, the graphics may show icons (e.g., circles) indicating robot wrist locations seen from a top-down perspective, and the icons of the manipulators that are selected for the group may be highlighted, color coded, or otherwise distinguished from those excluded from the group. Combinations of the above indicators also may be used.

[102] The auxiliary system 1008 may include various auxiliary devices that may be used in the operation of the system. For example, the auxiliary system 1008 may include power supply units, auxiliary function units (e.g., functions such as irrigation, evacuation, energy supply, illumination, sensors, imaging, etc.). As one example, in a system 100 for use in a medical procedure context, the auxiliary system 1008 may comprise a display device for use by medical staff assisting a procedure, while the user operating the input devices may utilize a separate display device that is part of the user input and feedback system 1004. As another example, in a system 100 for use in a medical context, the auxiliary system 1008 may comprise flux supply units that provide surgical flux (e.g., electrical power, pressure, light, fluid, vacuum, etc.) to instruments. An auxiliary system 1008 as used herein may thus encompass a variety of components and does not need to be provided as an integral unit.

[103] In some embodiments, the system 100 is configured as a computer-assisted, teleoperable medical system, in which case table assembly 101 may be configured to support a patient (not shown) and the instruments 150 may be medical instruments. The system 100 in this configuration may be usable, for example, to perform any of a variety of medical procedures, such as surgical procedures, diagnostic procedures, imaging procedures, therapeutic procedures, etc. Moreover, the system 100 when configured as a teleoperable medical system need not necessarily be used on a living human patient. For example, a non-human animal, a cadaver, tissue-like materials used for training purposes, and so on, may be supported on the table assembly 101 and worked on by system 100. In other embodiments, the system 100 is configured as a computer- assisted teleoperable system for use in non-medical contexts, in which case the table assembly 101 may be configured to support an inanimate workpiece (something being manufactured, repaired, tested, etc.) and the instruments 150 may be non-medical instruments, such as industrial instruments.

[104] Turning now to FIG. 15, one embodiment of a method 800 for implementing group clutching will be described. The method may be performed by or using an electronic controller of a manipulator system, such as a controller of the control system 1006.

[105] In block 802, the controller detects user input for initiating group clutched motion. The user input may be the concurrent actuation of the clutch inputs of two manipulators, the actuation of a single clutch input multiple times, the actuation of a clutch input that is dedicated to group clutched motions, or the application of force by the user to two manipulators concurrently. In response to the detecting of block 802, blocks 804-812 are performed.

[106] In block 804, the controller detects which manipulator(s) the user is grasping or otherwise intends to manually manipulate. This detection may be based, for example, on the user pressing clutch buttons on the manipulators as part of grasping the manipulators. Alternatively, sensors may be used to detect which manipulators are being grasped.

[107] In block 806, the controller determines the members of the group for group clutched motion. The members may be determined to include all of the deployed manipulators as a default. In addition, members may be excluded from this default group if they are docked, more than a defined distance from the grasped manipulators, or via any other predefined criteria.

[108] In block 808, the controller engages clutching for the members grasped by the user. Clutching comprises driving the powered joints, which may include causing the bakes of the joints to enter a non-braking state and driving actuators of the joints, such that the grasped members can be relatively freely moved around by the user, while the powered joints support the weight of the manipulator and/or to assist the user’s motions.

[109] In block 810, the controller drives the other manipulators in the group to follow the motions of the grasped manipulators while also maintaining a defined spatial relationship between portions of the manipulators. The driving of the joints in blocks 808 and 810 also include enforcing constraints on the motion of the manipulators, such as constraints to maintain the spatial relationship, constraints to avoid collisions, constraints to avoid manipulators extending beyond a range of motion, or other constraints.

[110] In block 812, the controller determines whether conditions are satisfied for cessation of group clutching. These conditions may include the user releasing a clutch input, a user ceasing to grasp one of the previously grasped manipulators, a stop button (e.g., emergency stop button) being pressed, a collision between a manipulator and an object having occurred or being predicted to occur, a manipulator reaching a range-of- motion limit (or approaching the limit), or any other desired condition. If the conditions for cessation are not satisfied, then the process returns to block 810. Thus, blocks 810 and 812 form a loop which has the effect of maintaining group clutching until the cessation criteria are satisfied. If the conditions for cessation are satisfied, then the process continues to block 814 and the controller resumes normal control of the manipulators, which may include disengaging the clutching of the grasped manipulators and ceasing to drive the other manipulators to follow the grasped manipulators.

[111] Turning now to FIG. 16, an embodiment of an electronic controller 900 for a manipulator system will be described. The controller 900 may be used as or included in, for example, the control system 1006. The controller 900 comprises a processor 901 and a memory 902 storing instructions 903, 905, 907, and 909. The processor 901 may comprise one or more processing devices capable of executing machine readable instructions, such as, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, a system-on-chip (SoC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a graphics processing unit (GPU), etc. The memory 902 comprises a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, such as a hard disc drive, solid state drive, random-access memory, persistent memory, or any other device capable of storing machine readable instructions and/or other data.

[112] The instructions stored on the memory 902 include instructions 903 for group clutch initiation. These instructions, when executed, cause the controller 900 to perform any of the processes described herein for determining or detecting initiation of group clutching. For example, the instructions 903 may include instructions corresponding to block 802 of method 800 described above.

[113] The instructions stored on the memory 902 include instructions 905 for determining group membership. These instructions, when executed, cause the controller 900 to perform any of the processes described herein for determining which manipulators should be included in in the group for group clutched motion. For example, the instructions 905 may include instructions corresponding to blocks 804 and 806 of method 800 described above.

[114] The instructions stored on the memory 902 include instructions 907 for clutching grasped manipulators. These instructions, when executed, cause the controller 900 to perform any of the processes described herein for placing the grasped manipulators in a clutched state by driving the powered joints thereof. For example, the instructions 907 may include instructions corresponding to block 808 of method 800 described above.

[115] The instructions stored on the memory 902 include instructions 909 for driving other manipulators to follow manually manipulated manipulators and maintain a defined spatial relationship. These instructions, when executed, cause the controller 900 to perform any of the processes described herein for driving the manipulators in group clutched motion, such as the processes related to the first group clutch mode and/or the processes related to the second group clutch mode described above. For example, the instructions 907 may include instructions corresponding to block 810 of method 800 described above.

[116] The embodiments described herein may be well suited for use in any of a variety of medical procedures, as described above. Such procedures could be performed, for example, on human patients, animal patients, human cadavers, animal cadavers, and portions or human or animal anatomy. Medical procedures as contemplated herein include any of those described herein and include, for non-surgical diagnosis, cosmetic procedures, imaging of human or animal anatomy, gathering data from human or animal anatomy, training medical or non-medical personnel, and procedures on tissue removed from human or animal anatomies (without return to the human or animal anatomy). Even if suitable for use in such medical procedures, the embodiments may also be used for benchtop procedures on non-living material and forms that are not part of a human or animal anatomy. Moreover, some embodiments are also suitable for use in non-medical applications, such as industrial robotic uses, and sensing, inspecting, and/or manipulating non-tissue work pieces. In non-limiting embodiments, the techniques, methods, and devices described herein may be used in, or may be part of, a computer-assisted surgical system employing robotic technology such as the da Vinci® Surgical Systems commercialized by Intuitive Surgical, Inc., of Sunnyvale, California. Those skilled in the art will understand, however, that aspects disclosed herein may be embodied and implemented in various ways and systems, including manually operated instruments and computer-assisted, teleoperated systems, in both medical and non-medical applications. Reference to the daVinci® Surgical Systems are illustrative and not to be considered as limiting the scope of the disclosure herein. [117] As used herein and in the claims, terms such as computer-assisted manipulator system, teleoperable manipulator system, or the like should be understood to refer broadly to any system comprising one or more controllable kinematic structures (“manipulators”) that are movable and controllable at least in part through the aid of an electronic controller (with or without human inputs). Such systems may occasionally be referred to in the art and in common usage as robotically assisted systems or robotic systems. Such systems include systems that are controlled by a user (for example through teleoperation), by a computer automatically (so-called autonomous control), or by some combination of these. In examples in which a user controls at least some of the operations of the manipulator, an electronic controller (e.g, a computer) may facilitate or assist in the operation. The term “computer” as used in “computer-assisted manipulator systems” refers broadly to any electronic control device for controlling, or assisting a user in controlling, operations of the manipulator, and is not intended to be limited to things formally defined as or colloquially referred to as “computers.” For example, the electronic control device in a computer-assisted manipulator system could range from a traditional “computer” (e.g, a general-purpose processor plus memory storing instructions for the processor to execute) to a low-level dedicated hardware device (analog or digital) such as a discrete logic circuit or application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or anything in between. Further, manipulator systems may be implemented in a variety of contexts to perform a variety of procedures, both medical and non-medical. Thus, although some examples described in greater detail herein may be focused on a medical context, the devices and principles described herein are also applicable to other contexts, such as industrial manipulator systems.

[118] It is to be understood that both the general description and the detailed description provide example embodiments that are explanatory in nature and are intended to provide an understanding of the present disclosure without limiting the scope of the present disclosure. Various mechanical, compositional, structural, electrical, and operational changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this description and the claims. In some instances, well-known circuits, structures, and techniques have not been shown or described in detail in order not to obscure the embodiments. Like numbers in two or more figures represent the same or similar elements.

[119] Further, the terminology used herein to describe aspects of the invention, such as spatial and relational terms, is chosen to aid the reader in understanding example embodiments of the invention but is not intended to limit the invention. For example, spatial terms — such as “beneath”, “below”, “lower”, “above”, “upper”, “proximal”, “distal”, “up”, “down”, and the like — may be used herein to describe directions or one element’s or feature’s spatial relationship to another element or feature as illustrated in the figures. These spatial terms are used relative to the figures and are not limited to a particular reference frame in the real world. Thus, for example, the direction “up” in the figures does not necessarily have to correspond to an “up” in a world reference frame (e.g., away from the Earth’s surface). Furthermore, if a different reference frame is considered than the one illustrated in the figures, then the spatial terms used herein may need to be interpreted differently in that different reference frame. For example, the direction referred to as “up” in relation to one of the figures may correspond to a direction that is called “down” in relation to a different reference frame that is rotated 180 degrees from the figure’s reference frame. As another example, if a device is turned over 180 degrees in a world reference frame as compared to how it was illustrated in the figures, then an item described herein as being “above” or “over” a second item in relation to the Figures would be “below” or “beneath” the second item in relation to the world reference frame. Thus, the same spatial relationship or direction can be described using different spatial terms depending on which reference frame is being considered. Moreover, the poses of items illustrated in the figure are chosen for convenience of illustration and description, but in an implementation in practice the items may be posed differently.

[120] In addition, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context indicates otherwise. And, the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “includes”, and the like specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups. Components described as coupled may be electrically or mechanically directly coupled, or they may be indirectly coupled via one or more intermediate components, unless specifically noted otherwise. Mathematical and geometric terms are not necessarily intended to be used in accordance with their strict definitions unless the context of the description indicates otherwise, because a person having ordinary skill in the art would understand that, for example, a substantially similar element that functions in a substantially similar way could easily fall within the scope of a descriptive term even though the term also has a strict definition.

[121] Elements and their associated aspects that are described in detail with reference to one embodiment may, whenever practical, be included in other embodiments in which they are not specifically shown or described. For example, if an element is described in detail with reference to one embodiment and is not described with reference to a second embodiment, the element may nevertheless be claimed as included in the second embodiment.

[122] As used herein, the pose of an object refers to a combination of a position and orientation of the object. For an articulable object made up of smaller parts movable relative to one another, such as a manipulator made up of links, the pose of the larger articulable object comprises the combined poses of the constituent parts relative to one another and/or relative to an external frame of reference.

[123] As used herein, “proximal” and “distal” are spatial/directional terms that describe locations or directions based on their relationship to the two ends of a kinematic chain. “Proximal” is associated with the end of the kinematic chain that is closer to the base or support of the chain, while “distal” is associated with the opposite end of the kinematic chain, which often comprises an end effector of an instrument. When used in to refer to locations or to portions of a component, proximal and distal indicate the relative positions of the locations or portions relative to the base of the chain, with the proximal location or potion being closer to the base (closer here referring to proximity along the kinematic chain, rather than absolute distance). When used to refer to a direction, “proximal” refers to directions that point generally from a given location along a kinematic chain towards a more proximal location along the kinematic chain, and “distal” refers to directions that point from the given location towards a more distal location along the kinematic chain.

[124] Unless otherwise noted herein or implied by the context, when terms of approximation such as “substantially,” “approximately,” “about,” “around,” “roughly,” and the like, are used in conjunction with a stated numerical value, property, or relationship, such as an end-point of a range or geometric properties/relationships (e.g., parallel, perpendicular, straight, etc.), this should be understood as meaning that mathematical exactitude is not required for the value, property, or relationship, and that instead a range of variation is being referred to that includes but is not strictly limited to the stated value, property, or relationship. In particular, the range of variation around the stated value, property, or relationship includes at least: any inconsequential variations; those variations that are typical in the relevant art for the type of item in question due to manufacturing or other tolerances; and/or variations that are within ±5% of the stated value, property, or relationship unless indicated otherwise.

[125] Further modifications and alternative embodiments will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the disclosure herein. For example, the devices and methods may include additional components or steps that were omitted from the diagrams and description for clarity of operation. Accordingly, this description is to be construed as illustrative only and is for the purpose of teaching those skilled in the art the general manner of carrying out the present teachings. It is to be understood that the various embodiments shown and described herein are to be taken as exemplary. Elements and materials, and arrangements of those elements and materials, may be substituted for those illustrated and described herein, parts and processes may be reversed, and certain features of the present teachings may be utilized independently, all as would be apparent to one skilled in the art after having the benefit of the description herein. Changes may be made in the elements described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present teachings and following claims.

[126] It is to be understood that the particular examples and embodiments set forth herein are non-limiting, and modifications to structure, dimensions, materials, and methodologies may be made without departing from the scope of the present teachings.

[127] Other embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with the following claims being entitled to their fullest breadth, including equivalents, under the applicable law.

Claims

CLAIMS WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1 . A manipulator system comprising: a plurality of manipulator arms, wherein each manipulator arm of the plurality of manipulator arms comprises a plurality of links coupled by one or more joints, the plurality of links of each manipulator arm comprising a distal link assembly comprising an instrument holding portion configured to be removably coupled with an instrument; and a controller configured to: initiate a group clutch mode for a group of manipulator arms comprising two or more of the plurality of manipulator arms; and while in the group clutch mode: drive joints of the group of manipulator arms based on manual movement of one or more manipulator arms of the group of manipulator arms along at least one degree of freedom of motion, and coordinate movement of defined portions of each of the manipulator arms in the group of manipulator arms.

2. The manipulator system of claim 1 , wherein coordinating movement of the defined portions comprises maintaining a defined spatial relationship between the defined portions.

3. The manipulator system of claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to, in the group clutch mode, drive joints of the group of manipulator arms based on manual movement of the one or more manipulator arms by: placing the one or more manipulator arms of the group of manipulator arms in a clutched state, wherein in the clutched state the controller configures the joints of the clutched manipulator arms to allow a user to manually move the clutched manipulator arms along the at least one degree of freedom of motion; and driving remaining manipulator arms of the group of manipulator arms based on motions of the clutched manipulator arms so as to maintain the defined spatial relationship between the defined portions of each of the manipulator arms in the group of manipulator arms.

4. The manipulator system of claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to utilize a first group clutch mode as the group clutch mode in response to a first condition and to utilize a second group clutch mode as the group clutch mode in response to a second condition.

5. The manipulator system of claim 4, wherein, the defined spatial relationship is defined differently in the first group clutch mode than in the second group clutch mode.

6. The manipulator system of claim 5, wherein in the first group clutch mode, the defined spatial relationship comprises a fixed spatial relationship between the defined portions of each of the manipulator arms in the group of manipulator arms; and wherein in the second group clutch mode the defined spatial relationship comprises a variable spatial relationship between the defined portions of each of the manipulator arms in the group of manipulator arms.

7. The manipulator system of claim 4, wherein the first condition comprises the manipulator system being in a deployed-for-docking state.

8. The manipulator system of claim 4, further comprising a table assembly comprising a platform configured to support a body, wherein the first condition comprises the group of manipulator arms being positioned over the platform.

9. The manipulator system of claim 4, wherein the second condition comprises the manipulator system being in a pre-deployed-for-docking state or a post-procedure state.

10. The manipulator system of claim 9, further comprising a table assembly comprising a platform configured to support a body, wherein the second condition comprises the group of manipulator arms being positioned at or beyond an end of the platform.

11 . The manipulator system of claim 1 , wherein initiating the group clutch mode comprises initiating a first group clutch mode in which the coordinated movement of the defined portions comprises maintaining a fixed spatial relationship between the defined portions of each of the manipulator arms in the group of manipulator arms.

12. The manipulator system of claim 11 , wherein the fixed spatial relationship corresponds to a spatial relationship between the defined portions of each of the manipulator arms in the group of manipulator arms at a time that the group clutch mode is initiated.

13. The manipulator system of claim 1 , wherein initiating the group clutch mode comprises engaging a second group clutch mode in which the coordinated movement of the defined portions comprises mirrored movement of the defined portions of a first subset of the group of manipulator arms relative to the defined portions of a second subset of the group of manipulator arms.

14. The manipulator system of claim 13, wherein the system further comprises table assembly comprising a platform configured to support a body; wherein the first subset of the group of manipulator arms are positioned on a first side of the table assembly and the second subset of the group of manipulator arms is positioned on a second side of the table assembly opposite to the first side; and wherein the mirrored movement is mirrored across a centerline of the platform.

15. The manipulator system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one degree of freedom of motion comprises three translational degrees of freedom of motion.

16. The manipulator system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one degree of freedom of motion comprises three rotational degrees of freedom of motion.

17. The manipulator system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine which manipulator arms to include in the group of manipulator arms based on respective statuses of the plurality of manipulator arms.

18. The manipulator system of claim 17, wherein the controller is configured to exclude from the group of manipulator arms any manipulator arms which are in an undeployed state.

19. The manipulator system of claim 17, wherein the controller is configured to exclude from the group of manipulator arms any manipulator arms which are in a docked state to a cannula.

20. The manipulator system of claim 17, wherein the controller is configured to: determine, for each manipulator arm not being grasped by a user, a distance between the respective manipulator arm and a manipulator arm being grasped by the user; and exclude from the group of manipulator arms any manipulator arms not being grasped by the user for which the distance is greater than a threshold.

21 . The manipulator system of claim 17, wherein the controller is configured to include each of the plurality of manipulator arms in the group except for any manipulator arms that satisfy any of a set of one or more exclusion criteria.

22. The manipulator system of claim 21 , wherein the set of one or more exclusion criteria comprises at least one of: being in an undeployed state; being in a docked state; and being farther than a threshold distance from a manipulator arm grasped by a user.

23. The manipulator system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to detect a user input associated with initiating group clutching and initiate the group clutch mode for the group of manipulator arms in response to detecting the user input.

24. The manipulator system of claim 23, wherein the user input associated with initiating group clutching comprises at least one of: concurrent actuation of respective clutch input devices disposed on two of the manipulator arms; multiple actuations of a clutch input device disposed on one of the manipulator arms within a defined time window; and forces of magnitude greater than a threshold being applied concurrently to two of the manipulator arms.

25. The manipulator system of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of manipulator arms comprises a clutch input device actuatable to generate an activation signal, and the controller is configured to initiate the group clutch mode based at least in part on the activation signals generated by one or more of the clutch input devices.

26. The manipulator system of claim 25, wherein the clutch input device of each manipulator arm is disposed on a link of the distal link assembly of the respective manipulator arm.

27. The manipulator system of claim 25, wherein the clutch input device of each manipulator arm is disposed on the instrument holding portion of the respective manipulator arm.

28. The manipulator system of claim 25, wherein the controller is configured to initiate the group clutch mode based at least in part on one or more of: receiving activation signals from two of the clutch input devices concurrently; and receiving multiple activation signals from one of the clutch input devices within a defined time window.

29. The manipulator system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to end the group clutch mode, remove one or more manipulator arms from the group of manipulator arms, or adjust the coordinated movement in response to identifying that a collision of one of the manipulator arms in the group with another object is impending or has occurred.

30. The manipulator system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to end the group clutch mode, remove one or more manipulator arms from the group of manipulator arms, or adjust the coordinated movement in response to identifying that one of the manipulator arms in the group has reached a range-of-motion limit.

31 . The manipulator system of claim 1 , wherein the defined portions comprise the instrument holding portions.

32. The manipulator system of claim 1 , further comprising one or more indicators configured to generate a notification in response to group clutched motion being engaged.

33. The manipulator system of claim 32, wherein the notification includes an indication of which manipulator arms are included in the group of manipulator arms.

34. The manipulator system of claim 32, wherein the one or more indicators comprise a plurality of visual indicators respectively disposed on each of the plurality of manipulator arms.

35. The manipulator system of claim 34, wherein the notification comprises each one of the plurality of visual indicators that is disposed on one of the manipulator arms included in the group of manipulator arms generating a visual output.

36. The manipulator system of claim 32, wherein the one or more indicators comprise a display device and the notification comprises a textual or graphical display.

37. The manipulator system of claim 32, wherein the controller is configured to: in response to a pair of manipulator arms out of the manipulator arms being grasped concurrently, determine whether a single user is grasping the pair of manipulator arms or multiple users are grasping the pair of manipulator arms; in response to determining that a single user is grasping the pair of manipulator arms, initiate the group clutch mode for a group comprising at least the pair of manipulator arms; and in response to determining that multiple users are grasping the pair of manipulator arms, refrain from initiating the group clutch mode for a group comprising the grasped manipulators.

38. The manipulator system of claim 37, wherein the controller is configured to, in response to determining that multiple users are grasping the pair of manipulator arms, initiate individual clutching for each manipulator arm of the pair of manipulator arms.

39. The manipulator system of claim 37, wherein the controller is configured to determine whether a single user is grasping the pair of manipulator arms or multiple users are grasping the pair of manipulator arms by one of: using cameras to detect which manipulator arms are grasped by which users, or transmitting an electrical signal into a hand grasping a first manipulator arm of the pair and sensing for the same signal to be received at a second manipulator of the pair.

40. The manipulator system of claim 37, wherein the controller is configured to, in the group clutch mode, constrain the motion of the group differently based on whether the single user is grasping a single manipulator arm or two manipulator arms.

41 . The manipulator system of claim 40, wherein the controller is configured to, in response to determining the single user is grasping a single manipulator arm in the group clutch mode, allow translation of the group but not rotation.

42. The manipulator system of claim 41 , wherein the controller is configured to, in response to determining the single user is grasping two manipulator arms in the group clutch mode, allow both translation and rotation of the group.

43. The manipulator system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to, in the group clutch mode, constrain the motion of the group differently based on which locations on the manipulator arms the user is grasping.

44. The manipulator system of claim 43, wherein the controller is configured to, in response to determining a user is grasping a first portion of at least one of the manipulator arms in the group clutch mode, allow translation of the group but not rotation.

45. The manipulator system of claim 44, wherein the controller is configured to, in response to determining the user is grasping a second portion of at least one of the manipulator arms in the group clutch mode, allow both translation and rotation of the group.

46. The manipulator system of claim 44, wherein second portion is part of the instrument holding portion and the first portion is proximal of the instrument holding portion.

47. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that are executable by a processor of a manipulator system comprising a plurality of manipulator arms to cause the processor to: initiate a group clutch mode for a group of manipulator arms comprising two or more of the plurality of manipulator arms; and while in the group clutch mode: drive joints of the group of manipulator arms based on manual movement of one or more manipulator arms of the group of manipulator arms along at least one degree of freedom of motion, and coordinate movement of defined portions of each of the manipulator arms in the group of manipulator arms.

48. A method of controlling a manipulator system, comprising: initiating a group clutch mode for a group of manipulator arms comprising two or more of a plurality of manipulator arms of the manipulator system; and while in the group clutch mode: driving joints of the group of manipulator arms based on manual movement of one or more manipulator arms of the group of manipulator arms along at least one degree of freedom of motion, and coordinating movement of defined portions of each of the manipulator arms in the group of manipulators.

49. A method of positioning manipulator arms of a manipulator system, comprising: indicating to a controller of the manipulator system that group clutched motion is requested; and moving a group of manipulator arms together as a group with coordinated motion between defined portions of each manipulator arm of the group of manipulator arms by manually applying forces to one or more of the manipulator arms, wherein the group of manipulator arms comprises at least one manipulator arm to which the forces are not manually applied.