Abstract: Flexible and soft robots have the potential for significant impact across a range of applications. Their inherent compliance makes them particularly well-suited for tasks requiring close human-robot interaction and collaboration. In this talk, I will present several new robot designs for various medical applications – from minimally invasive surgery to rehabilitation. In particular, I will discuss our work on continuum robots, including soft, growing robots that achieve locomotion by material extending from their tip. I will also discuss new approaches for providing haptic feedback during teleoperation of these continuum robotic systems using soft and flexible interfaces. Finally, I will present our work on the design of soft wearable robots for rehabilitation.
Bio: Tania Morimoto is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and in the Department of Surgery at the University of California, San Diego. She received the B.S. degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Stanford University, Stanford, CA, all in mechanical engineering. Her research lab focuses on the design and control of soft and flexible robots for increased dexterity and accessibility in uncertain environments. They are also working to address the challenges of designing human-in-the-loop interfaces for controlling these soft continuum robots, including the integration of haptic feedback. She is a recipient of the Hellman Fellowship (2021), the Beckman Young Investigator Award (2022), the NSF CAREER Award (2022), the ASEE Outstanding New Mechanical Engineering Educator Award (2023), and the Rising Star in Robotics Medal (MassRobotics, 2025).
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