How a Mars rover is enabling better surgical robots

From the Perseverance Mars Rover on its way to Mars to race cars, maxon (Taunton, Mass.) credits the aerospace and automotive industries with presenting demanding design challenges that are bearing fruit in other spaces such as surgical robotics.

The company’s GPX UP planetary gearbox, for example, is well-suited to provide haptic feedback for surgeons because it includes a smooth back-driving gearbox that delivers even for gear ratios requiring two or three planetary stages, according to maxon.

In surgical robotics, it is important that the robot have a gearbox capable of both smooth back drivability and simultaneously generating torque/force based on the position of the joystick. In fact, it is critical that the surgeon dynamically feels instantaneous equivalent forces as they are being exerted by the robot performing the procedure some distance away.

Get the full story on our WTWH Media sister site The Robot Report.