ABSTRACT: Flexible and soft robots have the potential for significant impact across a
range of medical applications. In addition to their benefits in minimally invasive surgical
applications, their inherent compliance also make them well-suited for other tasks
requiring close human-robot interaction and collaboration. In this talk, I will present
several new robot designs across a range of medical applications – from surgery to
rehabilitation. First, I will discuss our work on two different continuum robots – soft,
growing robots that achieve locomotion by material extending from their tip, and
concentric tube robots. I will also discuss new approaches for providing haptic feedback
during teleoperation of these robots 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 Assistant 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, particularly for minimally invasive surgical interventions. They are also
working to address the challenges of designing human-in-the-loop interfaces for
controlling these flexible and soft robots, including the integration of haptic feedback to
improve surgical outcomes. She is a recipient of the Hellman Fellowship (2021), the
Beckman Young Investigator Award (2022), the NSF CAREER Award (2022), and the
ASEE Outstanding New Mechanical Engineering Educator Award (2023).