Lou Genoud, Richard Clough, Etienne Burdet, Joshua Brown
IEEE Telepresence (2026) — in press
Industrial robotic arms could broaden access to surgical robotics research, but whole-arm inverse kinematics can distribute orientation commands across redundant joints, producing undesirable proximal motion in confined multi-robot workspaces. This work compares two wrist-orientation strategies for teleoperation of a seven-DoF KUKA LBR iiwa 7 R800 using an Omega.7 haptic interface. Both modes use Cartesian differential inverse kinematics for translation. Mode~1 resolves orientation hierarchically within the approximate translational null space, whereas Mode~2 maps master pitch and roll directly to J6 and J7. Identical time-stamped master inputs were replayed from the same initial robot configuration. Mode~1 distributed angular motion across proximal and distal joints, while Mode~2 confined the tested commands to the selected distal joints and produced geometry-dependent gripper-tip trajectories with negligible proximal joint displacement. Hybrid direct mapping therefore provides predictable joint allocation, but sacrifices independent yaw control and automatic redistribution near joint limits. Future work will evaluate Cartesian accuracy, collision clearance, and independent yaw control and apply the system to study surgeon performance in complex teleoperation tasks.