SAN FRANCISCO — Surgeons have only had one robot to play with in the general surgery space since Intutive Surgical Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.) introduced the da Vinci system in 1999, but that's about to change as Transenterix Inc. (Morrisville, N.C.) prepares to launch its recently-acquired Alf-x robotic system in Europe and its Surgibot system in the U.S.