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Abstract

A robotic system that moves a surgical instrument in response to the actuation of a foot pedal that can be operated by the foot of a surgeon. The robotic system has an end effector that is adapted to hold a surgical instrument such as an endoscope. The end effector is coupled to an articulate arm which can move the endoscope relative to the patient. The articulate arm can be located within a first coordinate system, the end effector may be located in a second coordinate system and the surgical instrument may be located within a third coordinate system. The system includes a computer which controls the movement of the robotic arm in response to input commands received from an input device such as the foot pedal. The controller may perform a software routine that computes the movement of the articulate arm and end effector in response to the input commands. The software routine may utilize transformation functions to transfer movement of the instrument from one coordinate system to another coordinate system. The surgical instrument may be an endoscope that is coupled to a video monitor. The monitor may display an organ of a patient. Movement of the articulate arm allows the surgeon to view different areas of the patient.

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First Claim