arXiv subjects

Nikita Thareja

Publications and source records attributed to Nikita Thareja.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Humanoids for Robot-Assisted Surgery: Bimanual Base Placement and Tool-Mount Optimization via Capability Maps

Rapid advances in humanoid robotics have motivated growing interest in the application of humanoids for healthcare and clinical tasks. However, it remains unclear how close contemporary humanoids are to meeting the kinematic demands of robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery. In this work, we address the question of optimal robot positioning through a quantitative analysis of workspace and robot setup configurations. We present a capability-map-based robot setup framework that optimizes humanoid base placement and tool mounting orientation to maximize bimanual humanoid reachability while accounting for tool-tip kinematics and remote-center-of-motion (RCM) constraints. We evaluate three humanoid platforms spanning different body dimensions and kinematic redundancy on workspace reachability for three representative general surgery procedures: cholecystectomy, inguinal hernia repair, and sleeve gastrectomy. The proposed joint optimization of base placement and tool mounting consistently outperforms base-only optimization and heuristic baselines. For cholecystectomy and inguinal hernia repair, which are characterized by relatively small and minimally overlapping workspaces, humanoid reachability approached 90%. For the larger, overlapping multi-port arm workspace of sleeve gastrectomy, humanoids yield substantially lower coverage. These results quantify the near-term promise of humanoids for selected laparoscopic procedures and clarify key limitations that must be addressed for broader deployment.

cs.RO↗

arXiv2026

In vivo feasibility study of humanoid robots in surgery

Recent advances in actuation, control and learning have rapidly pushed humanoid robots from a distant vision towards near-term real-world deployment. Healthcare is a particularly pressing domain, in which staffing shortages and increasing care demand are widening the gap between clinical workload and available skilled labour. Although current automation has largely focused on digital and logistical tasks, much hospital work remains embodied, requiring mobility, manipulation and safe interaction in human-designed environments. Humanoid form factors offer unique potential, particularly for assisting with surgical tasks. Traditionally, robotic systems for surgery are purpose-built platforms such as Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci Surgical System, and it remains unclear how close current humanoid systems are to meeting the precision, control and safety requirements of minimally invasive surgery. Here we present a systematic evaluation of contemporary humanoid technology for laparoscopic surgical tasks. We develop a humanoid-based laparoscopic teleoperation framework using general-purpose instruments and assess its abilities through benchtop characterization, dry-laboratory user studies spanning diverse surgical experience levels and in vivo porcine studies. Across these evaluations, we quantify technical feasibility, task performance and clinical readiness relative to established surgical platforms. Together, our study provides an evidence-based assessment of current humanoid abilities and limitations for surgical applications, highlighting both their promise and key technical challenges that must be addressed before clinical deployment.

cs.RO↗