Design of spherical parallel mechanisms for application to laparoscopic surgery

Abstract

This paper addresses an optimal study of workspace for spherical parallel mechanism for laparoscopic surgery. The spherical parallel manipulator has been selected because of its characteristics. Two designs have been studied for maximizing their workspaces; a haptic device, as part of training system, and a laparoscope holding mechanism. The laparoscope holding mechanism has to satisfy additional constraints by minimizing the occupied space above the patient. The objective is to solve design problem to offer the maximal workspace for such mechanisms. The design of a haptic interface and the laparoscope holding mechanism based on the optimal parameters are presented. This paper presents a Genetic Algorithm (GA) approach for selecting optimal design parameters for maximizing workspace of spherical parallel mechanism.