Stereo vision based robot navigation system using modulated potential field for implant surgery

Image navigation systems and robotics are leading technologies to improve the accuracy of dental surgery. In this paper, stereo vision based navigation system is implemented to the three degrees of freedom implant surgery assistant robot. The aim of this research is to achieve cooperative guide system for teaching the information of 'where to start cutting'. To achieve this aim, modulated potential field based on Lennard-Jones potential field is proposed for realizing following three requested performances. (1) Surgeon can freely operate the manipulator when it far from the destination. (2) The manipulator will apply adjusting force to converge correctly when approaching to the destination. (3) The manipulator will apply adjusting force for collision avoidance when passing the destination. This paper uses stereo camera to detect the destination. The validity of the proposed method is confirmed through experiment using three degrees of freedom parallel link manipulator.