Flexible Robotic Arm Vision System for Orthopedic Robot

One of the main and recent problems in Malaysian hospitals is the lack of surgeonsand specialists, especially in rural areas. Insufficient specialised surgeons in such regions particularly in the niche of orthopaedic causes more fatalities and amputees due to time constrain in attending the patients. Broken limbs due to accidents can be treated and recovered. But severed blood vessels results in blood loss and leads to amputation or even worst fatalities. A mobile robotic system known as OTOROB is designed and developed to aid orthopaedic surgeons to be virtually present at such areas for attending patients. The developed mobile robotic platform requires a flexible robotic arm vision system to be controlled remotely by the surgeon. To be present virtually is still insufficient if clearer view is not obtained. Thus, a flexible robotic arm with vision system as end effector is designed, developed and tested in real time. Fuzzy logic is implemented in the control system to provide safety for the robotic arm articulation. The safety systems of the robotic arm consist of Danger Monitoring System (DMS), Obstacle Avoidance System (OAS) and Fail Safe and Auto Recovery System (FSARS).