Handle shape influences system usability in telemanipulation

Ergonomic issues are widespread among surgeons performing teleoperated robotic surgery. As the ergonomics of a teleoperation system depends on the controller handle, it needs to be designed wisely. While the importance of the controller handle in robot-assisted telemanipulation has been highlighted previously, most existing work on the usability of a human-robot system for surgery was of qualitative nature or did not focus on surgery-specific tasks.

We investigated the influence of nine different grasp-type telemanipulator handles on the usability of a lambda.6 haptic input device for a virtual six degrees of freedom peg-in-hole task. User performance with different handles was assessed through four usability metrics: i) task completion time, ii) dimensionless jerk, iii) collision forces, and iv) perceived workload. We compared these usability results with those of a prior study examining only the functional rotational workspace of the same human-robot system.

The linear mixed-effect model (LMM) analysis showed that all four usability metrics were dependent on the telemanipulator handle. Moreover, the LMM analysis showed an additional contribution of the hole accessibility to the usability of the human-robot system.

In case contact forces between the follower end-effector and its surroundings are not critical, the fixed-hook-grasp handle showed the best results out of the nine tested handles. In case low contact forces are crucial, the tripod-grasp handle was most suitable. It can thus be deduced that different grasp-type telemanipulator handles affect system usability for a surgery-related, teleoperated six degrees of freedom placement task. Also, maximizing the functional rotational workspace can positively affect system usability.