Robotic surgery has evolved rapidly over the past three decades. From the early experimental platforms of the 1990s to the diverse ecosystem of systems available today, innovation has accelerated in both technology and global participation.
This timeline highlights some of the key milestones in the development of soft-tissue surgical robotic platforms, beginning with ZEUS (1996) and the da Vinci Standard (1999), followed by successive generations, second, da Vinci S (2004), third, Si (2009), and forth, with three options, Xi (2014), X (2017) and SP (2018). In the last decade, the field has expanded with new systems including Versius (2019), Symani (2019), hinotori (2020), Hugo (2021), and several newer platforms emerging from China: Edge (SP1000/MP1000 2021; MSP2000 2025), Kang Duo (KD-SR 2021; SR 2000 2024), Toumai (2022) and Shurui (2024).
The most recent milestone is the introduction of da Vinci 5 (2025).
The figure summarizes this evolution and illustrates how robotic surgery has progressed from a single dominant platform to a rapidly diversifying global landscape of surgical robotics.
J Granell, March 8, 2026