In this EXCLUSIVE CONTENT post I've covered a deep dive into current and future robotic instrumentation. An analysis of current pros and cons - and future direction of simple and advanced instruments.
Intro to Robotic Instrumentation
People generally buy robots for two main features. 1) They want stable 3D vision and 2) They want wristed instruments (especially for suturing). There are many way that you can get to "wristed" instruments. With some being true wristed, and some being articulated and others being steerable or flexible.
All of these methods are aiming to give you three key spacial movements... Pitch, Yaw and roll. Which allows you to get the tip of the instrument in any location in the X Y Z planes.
But not all "wrists" are equal. The gold standard wristed instruments rely upon a pitch joint, a yaw joint and a shaft roll mechanism. These are most frequently cable driven, where the cables work independently across pulleys to control the pitch and yaw, plus the opening and closing of the jaws.