A system for providing a remote center of motion for robotic control includes a marker device (104) configured to include one or more shapes (105) to indicate position and orientation of the marker device in an image collected by an imaging system (110). The marker device is configured to receive or partially receive an instrument (102) therein, the instrument being robotically guided. A registration module (117) is configured to register a coordinate system of the image with that of the robotically guided instrument using the marker device to define a position in a robot coordinate system (132) where a virtual remote center of motion (140) exists. Control software (136) is configured to control a motion of the robotically guided instrument wherein the virtual remote center of motion constrains the motion of a robot (130).
