Research Overview
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I believe successful wearable interfaces must balance three core principles regardless of application:
Performance: The device must meaningfully accomplish its task—whether delivering sufficient force, displacement, and bandwidth for haptic feedback, or generating adequate torque to support joint movement.
Human–System Communication: Wearable devices result in tightly coupled human–machine systems. Effective operation requires reliable intent detection from the user and intuitive feedback from the device.
Comfort and Accessibility: Devices with exceptional performance will still fail if they are uncomfortable or difficult to use. Devices must be easy to don/doff and suitable for extended, everyday wear for consumer adoption.
Research Area 1: Intelligent Control Strategies for Upper Extremity Soft Exosuits
A Task-Agnostic Control Strategy to Enable Tunable and Dynamic Assistance in Pneumatically Actuated Wearable Soft Robots
[Work in Progress]
We are developing a symbiotic, human-in-the-loop control strategy for soft robotic exosuits to provide intelligent assistance across the range of speeds and frequencies necessary for daily living. Our approach relies only on kinematic information from the human, therefore eliminating the need for force or myoelectric signals to enable more accessible deployment outside lab/clinical settings.
Data-driven Grasp Prediction for a Soft Rehabilitation Glove based on Kinematic Compliance
[Work in Progress]
We are developing a soft rehabilitation glove that provides finger extension assistance to help prevent clenched-fist deformity after stroke or neurological injury. In order for the device to assist with interacting with different objects, we are also developing a time-series classification algorithm to predict grasp intent based on the residual flexion strength of the user.
Research Area 2: Wearable Haptic Interfaces using Smart Materials
CASAband: Easy-to-Wear Textile Wristband using Shape Memory Alloys for Spatial and Temporal Haptic Feedback
Baekgyeom Kim*, Anoush Sepehri*, Jessica Healey, Taeuk Oh, Hyungseok Seo, Je-sung Koh, Tania K. Morimoto *Equal Contribution [Under Review]
CASAband is a fully untethered wristband that we designed by jointly considering function, form-factor, and ergonomics for practical use outside of the laboratory. CASAband consists of four compliant amplified shape memory alloy actuators integrated into a textile band to deliver spatial and temporal haptic feedback. The device weighs 63 g, operates completely silently, and can produce a range of haptic cues and patterns. Users identified haptic cues with over 90% accuracy, and were able to use the CASAband for outdoor navigation assistance.
Bundled Liquid Crystal Elastomer Actuators with Integrated Cooling for Mesoscale Soft Robots
Anoush Sepehri, Sukjun Kim, Devyansh Agrawal, Hannah Yared, Gaoweiang Dong, Shengqiang Cai, Tania K. Morimoto, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L), 2025
We developed a thermally driven soft actuator using liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) by bundling multiple units together with integrated cooling to overcome the traditional force–speed tradeoff seen in previous work. We also derived and validated an electro-thermo-mechanical model to guide the design of these actuators across different applications. To demonstrate the range of applications our actuators could be used in, we built an inchworm-inspired robot that crawls at over 6 body lengths/min and a wearable haptic cuff capable of generating skin stretch.
Research Area 3: Low Cost and Accessible Tools for Rehabilitation
Retrofitting Soft Assistive Robots with Sew-free Sensing Garments for Joint Motion Tracking and Kinematic Feedback
Anoush Sepehri, Michael T. Tolley, Tania K. Morimoto, IEEE International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), 2025
We developed a rapid, sew-free lamination strategy to develop skin-tight sensing garment using commercial flex sensors to track human motion during robot-assisted rehabilitation. Our system successfully tracks wrist and finger movement and can be integrated directly with existing soft robotic devices to provide real-time kinematic feedback. This approach enables low-cost, scalable, and easily deployable motion tracking used in junction with wearable rehabilitation devices.
A Soft Robotic Wrist Orthosis using Textile Pneumatic Actuators for Passive Rehabilitation
Anoush Sepehri, Samual Ward, Michael T. Tolley, Tania K. Morimoto, IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics, 2024 (Best Paper Finalist)
We developed a soft robotic wrist orthosis for continuous passive motion therapy using mechanically programmable textile pneumatic actuators that conform to the wrist anatomy. Our device can achieve over 100° of combined flexion/extension at operating pressures below 90 kPa, while remaining easy to don and doff without assistance. Ultimately, our device provides a safe and accessible solution for providing therapy for stroke patients at-home without the need for clinician oversight.
Undergraduate Research
A fiber Bragg Grating Tactile Sensor for Soft Material Characterization based on Quasi-Linear Viscoelastic Analysis
Anoush Sepehri, Hamed Helisaz, Mu Chiao, Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, 2023
A Motion Planning Algorithm for Redundant Manipulators Using Rapidly Exploring Randomized Trees and Artificial Potential Fields
Anoush Sepehri, Amirreza Mirbeygi Moghaddam, IEEE Access, 2021
Filed Patent Applications
Microfluidic-based fiber formation methods and systems
US Application No.: 18/239,682
Simon Beyer, Samuel Wadsworth, Jackson He, Zhensong Xu, Usama Khan, Konrad Walus, Anoush Sepehri, Marita Rodriguez
Method and system for monitoring operations of a mining shovel
US Application No.: 18/686,755
Burhanuddin S Terai, Ali Torabiparizi, Anoush Sepehri, Saeed Karimifard, Shahram Tafazoli Bilandi
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