A method may be provided to operate a surgical robotic system including a robotic arm configured to position a surgical end-effector with respect to an anatomical location of a patient. Position information may be received where the position information is generated using a sensor system remote from the robotic arm and remote from the patient. The position information may include position information relating to a tracking device affixed to the patient and position information relating to the surgical end-effector. The robotic arm may be controlled to move the surgical end-effector to a target trajectory relative to the anatomical location of the patient based on the position information generated using the sensor system.
