SURGICAL ROBOTIC SYSTEM AND CONTROL OF SURGICAL ROBOTIC SYSTEM

A surgical robotic system is provided for use in a surgical procedure. The surgical robotic system comprises a surgical arm (080) comprising a movable arm part (082) for mounting of a surgical instrument (119), the movable arm part having at least one degree-of-freedom to enable longitudinal movement (109) of the surgical instrument towards a surgical target (123). A human machine interface (020) is provided for receiving positioning commands (022) from a human operator for controlling the longitudinal movement of the surgical instrument, and an actuator (060) is configured and arranged for actuating the movable arm part to effect the longitudinal movement of the surgical instrument. The actuator is controlled by a processor in accordance with the positioning commands and a virtual bound (132-135). The virtual bound establishes a transition in the control of the longitudinal movement of the surgical instrument in a direction towards the surgical target. During use of the surgical robotic system, the virtual bound is established based on the positioning commands and updated or replaced based on the distance to the surgical target as indicated by sensor data.