Enhancing robotic telesurgery with sensorless haptic feedback

This paper evaluates user performance in telesurgical tasks with the da Vinci Research Kit (dVRK), comparing unilateral teleoperation, bilateral teleoperation with force sensors and sensorless force estimation. A four-channel teleoperation system with disturbance observers and sensorless force estimation with learning-based dynamic compensation was developed. Palpation experiments were conducted with 12 users who tried to locate tumors hidden in tissue phantoms with their fingers or through handheld or teleoperated laparoscopic instruments with visual, force sensor, or sensorless force estimation feedback. In a peg transfer experiment with 10 users, the contribution of sensorless haptic feedback with/without learning-based dynamic compensation was assessed using NASA TLX surveys, measured free motion speeds and forces, environment interaction forces as well as experiment completion times. The first study showed a 30