MEDICAL ROBOTIC SYSTEM PROVIDING COMPUTER GENERATED AUXILIARY VIEWS OF A CAMERA INSTRUMENT FOR CONTROLLING THE POSITIONING AND ORIENTING OF ITS TIP

A medical robotic system includes an entry guide with surgical tools and a camera extending out of its distal end. To supplement the view provided by an image captured by the camera, an auxiliary view including articulatable arms of the surgical tools and/or camera is generated from sensed or otherwise determined information about their positions and orientations and displayed on a display screen from the perspective of a specified viewing point. Intuitive control is provided to an operator with respect to the auxiliary view while the operator controls the positioning and orienting of the camera.