Shared hardware and software platforms for robotic systems have the great potential to foster collaboration between groups and to accelerate the progress of technology development. In the medical robotics community, a variety of common research platforms and software frameworks have emerged, such as the RAVEN II, the da Vinci Research Kit (dVRK), and the KUKA Lightweight Arm. The community around these platforms has joined together to support development of a common API, utilizing the Robot Operating System (ROS), and high-level software components to enable research.

The goals of this workshop are to more broadly engage the surgical robotics community, leverage the momentum of the existing community by presenting the latest developments, and to define the roadmap for future enhancements.

We are soliciting extended abstracts, 1-2 pages in length, for possible oral or poster presentation during Session 2.  Accepted abstracts will be posted on the workshop website.  Abstracts should fit the theme of the workshop and focus on shared platforms and software or on research enabled by shared platforms and software.