Professor Sina Sareh
- Professor of Robotics and Design Intelligence
- Academic Leader, Robotics
Sina is Professor of Robotics and Design Intelligence at the RCA, developing robotic systems that improve human safety and access while addressing environmental sustainability across industry and society.
Professor Sina Sareh is Academic Leader in Robotics and Professor of Robotics and Design Intelligence at the Royal College of Art. His research sits at the intersection of robotics, artificial intelligence, engineering and design, with a focus on developing robotic systems that are safer for people, more sustainable across their lifecycle and better suited to complex real-world environments. He served as an Impact Assessor for Sub-panel 12: Engineering in REF 2021 and is a Full Member of the EPSRC Peer Review College.
He founded and leads the RCA Robotics Laboratory, shaping its research direction, funding strategy and external partnerships. Sareh has led multidisciplinary research supported by EPSRC, Innovate UK, Research England and international funders including the HKSAR Government, securing more than £3 million as Principal Investigator directly to the RCA, alongside major collaborative programmes as Co-Investigator.
He is Principal Investigator of Circular Robot 5.0, a £1.9 million EPSRC-funded programme led by the RCA. His previous research leadership includes the EPSRC/UKRI Innovation Fellowship Getting a Grip, the multi-million-pound Innovate UK MIMRee programme, and the HKSAR Government-funded MedSort-X project through the Artificial Intelligence in Design Lab.
He also leads the Creative Intelligence Exchange (CIX) at the RCA, bringing together research, design and industry across robotics, AI and emerging technologies, and supporting interdisciplinary collaboration and research development across the College.
Sareh received his PhD in Robotics from the University of Bristol in 2012. Before joining the RCA, he held research positions at King’s College London and Imperial College London, and was a Visiting Scholar at the University of Washington in Seattle.
His wider research spans soft and bio-inspired robotics, autonomous systems, robotic inspection and maintenance, multi-robot interoperability, AI-enabled logistics and human-centred technologies. His work has been published in leading venues including Nature, Journal of the Royal Society Interface and IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters. Across his work, Sareh brings together engineering, AI and design to reduce risk to people while enabling more sustainable and resilient industrial systems.
For more information, see the RCA Robotics Laboratory.
Key details
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Research interests
Dr Sareh's research areas include:
- Soft robotics,
- Multi-modal mobility, manipulation and attachment,
- Multimodal sensing
Publications, exhibitions, other outcomes
Publications, peer-reviewed journal papers and selected articles:
- Sareh, S., Althoefer, K., Li, M., Noh, Y., Tramacere, F., Sareh, P., Mazzolai, B., Kovac, M. (2017) Anchoring like octopus: biologically inspired soft artificial sucker, Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 14:135.
- Sareh, S., Rossiter, J.M., Conn, A.T., Drescher, K., Goldstein, R.E. (2012) 'Swimming like algae: biomimetic soft artificial cilia', Journal of the Royal Society Interface 20120666.
- Sareh, S., Rossiter, J.M., (2013) 'Kirigami artificial muscles with complex biologically inspired morphologies', Smart Mater. Struct. 22 014004.
- Sareh, S., Noh, Y., Li, M., Ranzani, T., Liu, H., Althoefer, K. (2015) 'Macro-bend optical sensing for pose measurement in soft robot arms', Smart Mater. Struct. 24 125024.
- Li, M., Ranzani,T., Sareh, S., Seneviratne, L.D, Dasgupta, P., Wurdemann, H., Althoefer, K. (2014) 'Multi-Fingered Haptic Palpation utilizing Granular Jamming Stiffness Feedback Actuators', Smart Mater. Struct. 23 095007.
Latest articles:
- Li, M., Sareh, S., Xu, G., Ridzuan, M.B., Luo, S., Xie, J., et al. (2016) 'Evaluation of Pseudo-Haptic Interactions with Soft Objects in Virtual Environments'. PLoS ONE 11(6): e0157681.
- Sklar, E., Sareh, S., Secco, E., Faragasso, A., Althoefer, K. (2016) 'A Non-linear Model for Predicting Tip Position of a Pliable Robot Arm Segment Using Bending Sensor Data', Sensors & Transducers, Vol. 199, Issue 4, 52–61.
- Noh, Y., Liu, H., Sareh, S., Chathuranga, D., Wurdemann, H., Rhode, K., Althoefer, K. (2016) 'Image-based Optical Miniaturized Three-Axis Force Sensor for Cardiac Catheterization', IEEE Sensors, Volume:PP Issue:99.
- Noh, Y., Sareh, S., Wudermann, H., Liu, H., Althoefer, K., (2015) 'Three Axial Fiber-Optic Body Force Sensor for Flexible Manipulators', Sensors-11652–2015.
- Li, M., Ridzuan, M., Sareh, S., Seneviratne, L.D., Dasgupta, P., Althoefer K. (2014) 'Pseudo-haptics for rigid tool/soft surface interaction feedback in virtual environments', Journal of Mechatronics, Volume 24, Issue 8, 1092–1100.
- Noh, Y., Bimbo, J., Sareh, S. Wurdemann, H Fraś, J., Chathuranga, J. Liu, H., Housden J., Althoefer, K., Rhode, K. (2016) 'Multi-axis force/torque sensor based on simply-supported beam and optoelectronics', Sensors 2016, 16(11), 1936.
Book chapter:
- Sareh, S., Siddall, R., Alhinai, T., and Kovac, M. (2016) 'Bio-inspred soft aerial robots: adaptive morphology for high performance flight'. In "Soft Robotics: Trends, Applications and Challenges", Volume 17 of the series Biosystems & Biorobotics , Springer, 65–74
Refereed conference papers and workshops:
- Sareh, S. and Noh, Y (2018) Low profile stretch sensor for soft wearable robotics, IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft 2018), Livorno, Italy.
- Sareh, S., Noh, Y., Ranzani, T., Liu, H., Althoefer, K., (2015) 'A 7.5mm Steiner chain fiber-optic system for multi-segment flex sensing', IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2336–2341.
- Sareh, S., Noh, Y., Ranzani, T., Wudermann, H., Liu, H., Althoefer, K. (2015) 'Modular fiber-optic shape sensor for articulated surgical instruments'', Hamyln Symposium on Medical Robotics.
- Wurdemann, H., Sareh, S., Shafti, A., Noh, Y., Faragasso, F., Liu, H., Hirai, S., Althoefer, A. (2015) 'Embedded electro-conductive yarn for shape sensing of soft robotic manipulators', Engineering in Medicine and Biology Conference (EMBC).
- Noh, Y., Sareh, S., Wudermann, H., Liu, H., Althoefer, K. (2015) 'Image Based Optical Multi-Axis Force Sensor for Medical Robotics', Hamyln Symposium on Medical Robotics.
- Sareh, S., Jiang, A., Faragasso, A., Noh, Y., Nanayakkara, T., Dasgupta, P., Seneviratne, L., Wurdemann, H., Althoefer, K., (2014) 'Bio-Inspired Tactile Sensor Sleeve for Soft Surgical Manipulators', IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2014, Hong Kong, China.
- Rossiter, J.M. and Sareh, S. (2014) 'Kirigami design and fabrication for biomimetic robotics', SPIE Smart Structures and Materials+ Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, San Diego, California, USA.
- Li, M., Sareh, S., Ridzuan, M., Senviratne, L., Dasgupta, P., Wudermann, H., Althoefer, K. (2014) 'Multi-Fingered Palpation using Pseudo-Haptic Feedback', Hamyln Symposium on Medical Robotics.
- Noh, Y., Sareh, S., Back, J., Wurdemann, H., Ranzani, T., Secco, E.L., Faragasso, A., Liu, H., Althoefer, K. (2014) 'Development of a Three Axial Body Force Sensor for Flexible Manipulators', IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2014, Hong Kong, China.
- Faragasso, A. , Bimbo, J. , Noh, Y., Wurdemann, H.A., Sareh, S., Liu, H. , Nanayakkara, T., Althoefer, K. (2014) 'Novel Uniaxial Force Sensor based on Visual Information for Minimally Invasive Surgery', IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Hong Kong, China.
- Noh, Y., Secco, E.L., Sareh, S., Wurdemann, H.A., Faragasso, A., Back, J., Liu, H., Sklar, E., Althoefer, K. (2014) 'A Continuum Body Force Sensor Designed for Flexible Surgical Robotic Devices', International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC).
- Gibbons, R., Sareh, S., Poulton, A. and Andrews, B. J. (2011) 'Manual control of 4ch FES rowing'. In: 16th IFESS Annual Conference, 2011: Electrical Stimulation and the Anthropological "Post-Human" Body, 8-11 September 2011, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
- Sareh, S., Conn, A.T., Rossiter, J.M.,(2010), 'Optimization of bio-inspired multi-segment IPMC cilia', Proceedings of Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD XII) Conference, San Diego, California, USA, Proc. SPIE Vol. 7642.
- Sareh, S., Andrews, B. J., Gharooni, S and Tokhi, M. O. (2008) 'Compliant control of FES-rowing with energy store and release mechanism'. Proceedings of CLAWAR-2008: 11th International Conference on Climbing and Walking Robots and the Support Technologies for Mobile Machines, Coimbra, Portugal, pp. 282-288, World Scientific Publishing, ISBN: 13-978-981-283-576-5, 10-981-283-576-8.
- Sareh, S., Andrews, Brian J; Green, Matthew and Poulton, Adrian S (2008) 'Control strategies adopted by elite FES rowers'. In: 13th Annual Conference of the International Functional Electrical Stimulation Society, 21-25 Sep 2008, Freiburg, Germany.
- Gharooni, S., Sareh, S. and Tokhi, M.O. (2007) 'Development of FES-rowing Machine with Quadriceps Stimulation and Energy Storing Device', 12th Annual Conference of the International FES Society, Philadelphia, USA.
