{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,5]],"date-time":"2026-02-05T22:42:01Z","timestamp":1770331321832,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,1]],"date-time":"2026-02-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1769904000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"New smart and adaptive robotics solutions for personalized minimally invasive surgery in cancer treatment\u2014ATHENA"},{"name":"European Union\u2014Next Generation EU and Romanian Government","award":["760072\/23.05.2023"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["760072\/23.05.2023"]}]},{"name":"European Union\u2014Next Generation EU and Romanian Government","award":["116\/15.11.2022"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["116\/15.11.2022"]}]},{"name":"Romanian Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Robotics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This paper presents the development and experimental evaluation of the Athena parallel robot, a novel system designed for robot-assisted pancreatic surgery. The development of the experimental model based on the kinematic scheme, including the command and control system (hardware and software), the calibration procedure, and the performance measurements of the experimental model based on finite element analyses of the 3D model, are also detailed in this paper. Based on these finite element analyses, a region of the robot that introduces clearance during the operation of the experimental model is found. The paper also presents the methodology used for mapping the robot\u2019s workspace with an optical system, which enabled improvements to ensure coverage of the entire pancreas area. The results obtained before and after the mechanical improvements are presented, demonstrating a reduction in clearance by up to 4.1 times following part replacement, as well as a workspace extension that enables the active instrument to reach the entire pancreatic region.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/robotics15020033","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,2]],"date-time":"2026-02-02T12:49:44Z","timestamp":1770036584000},"page":"33","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Development and Experimental Evaluation of the Athena Parallel Robot for Minimally Invasive Pancreatic Surgery"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5804-575X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alexandru","family":"Pusca","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"CESTER, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Memorandumului 28, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"},{"name":"European University of Technology, European Union"}]},{"given":"Razvan","family":"Ciocan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgery\u2014Practical Abilities, \u201cIuliu Hatieganu\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400337 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4427-6231","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bogdan","family":"Gherman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CESTER, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Memorandumului 28, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"},{"name":"European University of Technology, European Union"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0126-6428","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andra","family":"Ciocan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CESTER, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Memorandumului 28, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Surgery, \u201cIuliu Hatieganu\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400347 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}]},{"given":"Andrei","family":"Caprariu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CESTER, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Memorandumului 28, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"},{"name":"European University of Technology, European Union"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5986-1233","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nadim","family":"Al Hajjar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CESTER, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Memorandumului 28, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Surgery, \u201cIuliu Hatieganu\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400347 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2822-9790","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Calin","family":"Vaida","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CESTER, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Memorandumului 28, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"},{"name":"European University of Technology, European Union"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5531-6913","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adrian","family":"Pisla","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CESTER, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Memorandumului 28, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"},{"name":"European University of Technology, European Union"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0005-0262","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Corina","family":"Radu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CESTER, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Memorandumului 28, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, \u201cIuliu Hatieganu\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400347 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-4758-0468","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrei","family":"Cailean","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CESTER, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Memorandumului 28, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"},{"name":"European University of Technology, European Union"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5660-8259","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paul","family":"Tucan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CESTER, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Memorandumului 28, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"},{"name":"European University of Technology, European Union"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7847-6162","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Damien","family":"Chablat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CESTER, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Memorandumului 28, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"},{"name":"\u00c9cole Centrale Nantes, Nantes Universit\u00e9, CNRS, LS2N, UMR 6004, F-44000 Nantes, France"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7014-9431","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Doina","family":"Pisla","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CESTER, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Memorandumului 28, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"},{"name":"European University of Technology, European Union"},{"name":"Technical Sciences Academy of Romania, B-dul Dacia, 26, 030167 Bucharest, Romania"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1929","DOI":"10.2217\/fon-2016-0010","article-title":"Pancreatic Cancer: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow","volume":"12","author":"Ansari","year":"2016","journal-title":"Future 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