Precise bilateral tele-operation control for medical devices

• Project/Area Number: 18K13725
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 20020:Robotics and intelligent system-related
• Research Institution: Tokyo Medical and Dental University
• Principal Investigator: Kanno Takahiro 東京医科歯科大学, 生体材料工学研究所, 准教授 (50714234)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2019)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,030,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥930,000); Fiscal Year 2019: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000); Fiscal Year 2018: ¥2,340,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥540,000)
• Keywords: 遠隔制御 / 手術支援ロボット / 空気圧サーボシステム / 暗号化制御 / ロボティクス / 空気圧 / バイラテラル制御 / 通信遅延 / 波変数 / LSTM

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we developed a bilateral control system, which enables precise operation of teleoperated robot such as surgical robot, and feeds back the force to the operator.
We proposed a method to estimate the operator's trajectory 100 milliseconds later to reduce the effect of time delay in the network. We used a machine learning method LSTM. The method. We also developed a pneumatic soft actuator for precise force control. The soft actuator does not have sliding parts and it has low friction. We modeled the relationship between the air pressure and the output force of the actuator, based on the strength of materials.
Furthermore, we implemented a ElGamal encryption in the pneumatic servo controller to enhance the cyber-security of the teleoperation system.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

現在実用化されている手術ロボットはネットワークを介した遠隔手術を行うことができていないが、本研究の成果を用いることで今後遠隔手術が可能になることが期待される。また、本手法は手術ロボットだけでなく、様々な電動または空気圧駆動のロボットシステムに対して適用可能である。特に、空気圧駆動システムの遠隔制御について制御系設計の知見が得られたことにより、これまで電動ロボットでは作業が難しかった環境への応用が期待できる。

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Model of a Coil-Reinforced Cylindrical Soft Actuator (2019)
  • Author(s): Kanno Takahiro、Ohkura Shunya、Azami Osamu、Miyazaki Tetsuro、Kawase Toshihiro、Kawashima Kenji
  • Journal Title: Applied Sciences Volume: 9 Issue: 10 Pages: 2109-2109
  • DOI: 10.3390/app9102109
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Presentation] Application to Pneumatic Servo System in Bilateral Control Based on Wave Variable (2020)
  • Author(s): Inoue Yuya、Kanno Takahiro、Miyazaki Tetsuro、Kawase Toshihiro、Kawashima Kenji
  • Organizer: 2020 IEEE/SICE International Symposium on System Integration (SII)
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] 波変数に基づくバイラテラル制御における機械学習を用いた遅れ補償 (2019)
  • Author(s): 井上裕矢
  • Organizer: 日本機械学会ロボティクス・メカトロニクス講演会2019