Introduction

The da Vinci instruments can be automatically identified when inserted in the sterile adapter using the ‘add-only’ chip embedded in the tool (aka Dallas chip, DS2505). This feature was not supported in early versions of the dVRK Classic both from a software and hardware perspective.

Note

Instrument detection is supported without any modification for all dVRK-Si controllers and any dVRK Classic controller shipped after 2019.

To retrieve the instrument tool type, the dVRK Classic controllers can use two different approaches:

• Dallas driver interface (DS2480B): The FPGA communicates serially with the DS2480B chip, which then communicates with the DS2505 chip in the tool using a 1-wire interface. The DS2480B chip is either on the dMIB (Rev F or greater) or on a dongle that is attached to a connector on the rear of the controller (see requirements below).

• FPGA 1-wire interface: In this scenario, the FPGA/QLA communicates directly with the tool’s DS2505 chip. This method requires QLA Version 1.4 or greater.

You can test the instrument detection using the command line tool instrument provided with the low level software (along qladisp in AmpIO). The instrument program will dump the memory from the instrument in a text file. Make sure you have an instrument properly seated in the sterile adapter before launching the program.

instrument [-pP] <board num>

You can also bypass the automatic instrument detection in the PSM configuration file.