Haptic Shared Control Framework with Interaction Force Constraint Based on Control Barrier Function for Teleoperation

Current teleoperated robotic systems for retinal surgery cannot effectively control subtle tool-to-tissue interaction forces. This limitation may lead to patient injury caused by the surgeon’s mistakes. To improve the safety of retinal surgery, this paper proposes a haptic shared control framework for teleoperation based on a force-constrained supervisory controller. The supervisory controller leverages Control Barrier Functions (CBFs) and the interaction model to modify teleoperated inputs when they are deemed unsafe. This method ensures that the interaction forces at the slave robot’s end-effector remain within the safe range without the robot’s dynamic model and the safety margin. Additionally, the master robot provides haptic feedback to enhance the surgeon’s situational awareness during surgery, reducing the risk of misjudgment. Finally, simulated membrane peeling experiments are conducted in a controlled intraocular surgical environment using a teleoperated robotic system controlled by a non-expert. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed control framework significantly reduces the rate of force constraint violation.