Robotic manipulators capable of generating a Remote Center of Motion (RCM) enable a device, instrument, or tool to rotate around a fixed point that is called the Center of Rotation (CoR). In medical applications, for example, the increasing use of minimally invasive procedures, known as Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS), has spurred reliance on RCM kinematics for the manipulation of surgical tools. The CoR within these mechanisms results directly from their mechanical architecture rather than their control. This special issue focuses on the design methodology of mechanisms in this category with more interest in kinematic synthesis and design optimization that can be associated with kinematic analysis.
Topic Areas
THE SCOPE OF THIS ISSUE INCLUDES BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO:
- Topological and dimensional synthesis
- Optimum design
- Artificial intelligence for design
- Design methodology
- Kinematic analysis
- Stiffness analysis
- Novel and special design
- Reconfigurability and redundancy
- Medical, industrial, and others application
Special Issue Publication Dates
Paper submission deadline: November 1, 2025
Initial review completed: January 1, 2026
Publication date: June 2026
Submission Instructions
Papers should be submitted electronically to the journal through the ASME Journal Tool. If you already have an account, log in as an author and select Submit Paper. If you do not have an account, you can create one here.
Once at the Paper Submittal page, select the Journal of Mechanical Design, and then select the Special Issue on Design and Synthesis of Remote Center of Motion Mechanisms.
Papers received after the deadline or papers not selected for the Special Issue may be accepted for publication in a regular issue.
Guest Editors
Med Amine Laribi, University of Poitiers, France (med.amine.laribi@univ-poitiers.fr)
Carl Nelson, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, USA (cnelson5@unl.edu)
Terence Essomba, National Central University, Taiwan (tessomba@cc.ncu.edu.tw)
Chao-Chieh Lan, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan (cclan@mail.ncku.edu.tw)
