I recently created a detailed video showing how the Intuitive Surgical Robot instruments work, including a teardown where I fully disassembled the device.
The instruments shown in this video are from the DaVinci S/Si robotic surgery platforms. These surgery platforms, including the instruments shown, were developed in the mid 90's as a spin off of a university research project. The engineering in these instruments is pretty incredible, especially considering they pioneered robotic surgery with these devices.