{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,5]],"date-time":"2026-03-05T06:38:55Z","timestamp":1772692735803,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,28]],"date-time":"2026-02-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772236800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100009392","name":"Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["2025\/01\/33726"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025\/01\/33726"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100009392","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Robotics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Surgical robots require sub-millimeter accuracy and reliable inverse kinematics across anatomies. Population-based metaheuristics address this, but static parameters may limit achieving the needed precision for clinical use. This study introduces the Rough Sets Meta-Heuristic Schema (RSMS) for dynamic, context-aware control. RSMS categorizes agents (Elite, Boundary, Poor) via Rough Set discretization based on fitness and distribution, allocating resources accordingly without problem-specific heuristics. To demonstrate the approach\u2019s effectiveness, RSMS was implemented within Particle Swarm Optimization and evaluated as a surgical robotics inverse kinematics solver and path planner. In simulations using three surgical problems, RS-PSO allowed upgrading of the performance of the standard PSO in terms of consistent convergence and success in tight search spaces. Statistical tests confirmed these improvements. Using a 7-DOF KUKA LBR iiwa robot and surgical benchmarks of landmark acquisition, spiral trajectory tracking, and constrained path, RS-PSO achieved success rates of 100%, 67%, and 100%, respectively, meeting surgical requirements. The results demonstrate clinical gains in accuracy, consistency, and reproducibility for minimally invasive surgery. These findings support the practical advantages of RS-PSO and, more importantly, show that the RS-MH framework can be used as a general, reusable tool to improve the robustness, precision, and reproducibility of many swarm-based meta-heuristics for surgical robotics and other applications.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/robotics15030052","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,3]],"date-time":"2026-03-03T12:48:56Z","timestamp":1772542136000},"page":"52","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Rough Sets Meta-Heuristic Schema for Inverse Kinematics and Path Planning of Surgical Robotic Arms"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4848-5855","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nizar","family":"Rokbani","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Technology, College of Applied Medical Sciences in Al Kharj, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al Kharj 11942, Saudi Arabia"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Picozzi, P., Nocco, U., Puleo, G., Labate, C., and Cimolin, V. 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Syst."}],"container-title":["Robotics"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2218-6581\/15\/3\/52\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,5]],"date-time":"2026-03-05T05:22:53Z","timestamp":1772688173000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2218-6581\/15\/3\/52"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,28]]},"references-count":26,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3]]}},"alternative-id":["robotics15030052"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/robotics15030052","relation":{},"ISSN":["2218-6581"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2218-6581","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,28]]}}}