Summary form only given. This article presents an experimental robotic positioner for the application in laparoscopic surgery. The robot manipulator can be controlled by either the local mode or the remote mode. In the local mode, a joystick is used to input the desired motion of the robot to the local personal computer (PC) which is connected to the robot controller through RS232. As to the remote mode, the robot commands are transmitted from a remote PC to the local PC through a network. The local mode is suitable for surgical room application while the remote mode is potential for the application of remote teaching of laparoscopic surgery. From three animal experiments, we have verified that a robotic positioner can provide stable images and is promising for clinical applications of remote surgery in the future. However, the RV-MII robot is too bulky to assist surgery in an operation room. We have designed a five-degree-of-freedom SCARA type robot which has been manufactured and is under performance test.