DASH: A da Vinci Adapter for Serial-link and Humanoid Robots as an Accessible Platform for Surgical Robotics Research

Sara Wickenhiser; Junrong Zhou; Zekai Liang; Lizzie Peiros; Michael C. Yip

cs.ROOct 5, 2026

DASH: A da Vinci Adapter for Serial-link and Humanoid Robots as an Accessible Platform for Surgical Robotics Research

Authors: Sara Wickenhiser, Junrong Zhou, Zekai Liang, Lizzie Peiros, Michael C. Yip

Organizations: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093 USA · Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093 USA.

Abstract

Robotic minimally invasive surgery offers well-documented clinical benefits, but the cost and infrastructure requirements of purpose-built platforms limit access in rural and lower-resourced facilities. Recent work has teleoperated general-purpose robots for laparoscopic tasks and in vivo procedures, but relied on handheld instruments coupled through passive linkages rather than native robotic actuation. Instead, we adapt da Vinci Classic and Xi instruments onto general-purpose robots that can integrate in clinical workflows. We present DASH, a da Vinci Adapter for Serial-link and Humanoid platforms, consisting of two types of adapters that require no modification to the instruments themselves. Each adapter is compatible with many robotic platform load capacities, engages the instrument's native latch, and wirelessly identifies inserted tools to load instrument-specific kinematics and coupling matrices. Teleoperated experiments demonstrate the efficacy of DASH and its benefits for enabling research access to surgical robotic platforms.

Figures & tables

Fig. 1: The da Vinci Adapter for Serial-link and Humanoid platforms (DASH) adapts da Vinci surgical instruments onto compact, versatile platforms such as a humanoid robot. By decoupling these instruments from the da Vinci system, DASH provides a platform that can substantially reduce the infrastructure barrier to highly precise robotic minimally invasive surgery.

Item	DASH C	DASH Xi
Tool Compatibility	Classic	Xi
Mass (Including Tool)	$<$ 0.5 kg	$<$ 0.5 kg
Degrees of Freedom	4	4-5
Controls	EE Orientation	EE Orientation
Actuator Mech. Power	2 W / motor	2 W / motor

TABLE I: Design Requirements

Fig. 2: The humanoid and serial manipulators operating with da Vinci Xi or Classic surgical tools (real). Both adapters can easily mount to the platforms through interchangeable mounts that connect to the underside of each DASH type (shown in CAD).

Fig. 3: Overview of the DASH C’s core features, including the guiding track, front support, spring engagement, RFID reader, motors, and controller. The DASH C is a compact and effective adapter that can connect with all the Classic tool instruments.

Fig. 4: Overview of DASH Xi’s core features, including the snap fit tab, spring engagement, RFID reader, motors, and controller. DASH Xi can connect to all Xi tool instruments. The front view in the top right shows the motor IDs.

Fig. 5: Humanoid surgical teleoperation system with DASH. After a tool is inserted, the ID is read and kinematics are updated. The Master Tool Manipulator (MTM), shown on the left, publishes target instrument poses, commanding the humanoid and DASH to position the end effector in the desired poses with the RCM constraint.

Frame	$\alpha_{i-1}$ (rad)	$a_{i-1}$ (m)	$\theta_{i}$ (rad)	$d_{i}$ (m)	Type
Roll	$0.0000$	$0.0000$	$\phi_{r}$	$0.4162$	Revolute
Wrist Pitch	$-1.5708$	$0.0000$	$\phi_{p}-1.5708$	$0.0000$	Revolute
Wrist Yaw	$-1.5708$	$0.0091$	$\phi_{y}-1.5708$	$0.0000$	Revolute
End Effector	$-1.5708$	$0.0000$	$0.0000$	$0.0102$	Fixed

TABLE II: MDH Parameters – 8 mm Large Needle Driver

a 5 trials $\times$ 20 pings; Xi motor 5 unused due to 4-DOF tools
Test	DASH C	DASH Xi
Mass (kg)	$0.439$	$0.463$
Last-Motor Latency a (ms)	$5.07\pm 0.04$	$5.01\pm 0.05$
Tool ID & Zeroing b	$40/40$	$20/20$
Tool Exchange Time c (s)	$4.74\pm 1.15$	$3.39\pm 0.51$
b 4 (C) or 2 (Xi) tools $\times$ 10 insertions each

TABLE III: DASH Experimental Results

Fig. 6: Error vs. commanded angle for the 8 mm Mega SutureCut Needle Driver (left) and 8 mm Tenaculum Forceps (right) in roll, pitch, and yaw for DASH Xi. The mean angular error and ±1 standard deviation are shown for commanded angles from 0° to 90°. Best-fit lines were calculated excluding the data points at 0° and 90°.

Fig. 7: Initialization of humanoid platform with DASH. The top left and right panels show the neutral and initialized poses, respectively. The RCM position, insertion depth, and instrument orientation are predefined to initialize the robot configuration before operation. The bottom panel displays the humanoid being teleoperated to complete a peg transfer task.

Fig. 8: Comparison of commanded tool tip trajectory vs executed trajectory with DASH and the previous system. The left and right graphs show the in-plane 2D radial RMS error and 3D view, respectively, with the DASH trajectory substantially more accurate than the previous system.

Fig. 9: RCM convergence across two trials. Optitrack markers placed on either side of the RCM tracked the shaft’s motion over random trajectories which was used to determine the converged RCM and pivot error.

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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.

Abstract

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