dr. A. Sadeghi (Ali)

I am an assistant professor at the Department of Biomechanical Engineering at the University of Twente. I lead the Soft Robotics Lab, where we focus on developing new methods and robotic machines for the additive manufacturing of soft robots. Among the notable achievements of my lab are the development of a soft rubber pellet extruder printer, 3D weaving/printing machines, and a multi-material polymer printer, all contributing to advancing additive manufacturing technologies. My research mainly involves 3D printing of multilateral, hyperelastic, and fiber-reinforced smart polymers. These efforts aim to create advanced soft sensors and proprioceptive soft actuators, suitable for various applications including wearable robotics, healthcare, and environmental monitoring.

I received my Ph.D. with honor (cum laude) in the field of Micro-BioRobotics from Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Italy (2013), and both my M.Sc. and B.Sc. in the field of Manufacturing & Production Engineering from the University of Tehran (2004) and Noshirvani University of Technology (2001) in Iran.

After years in industry, I transitioned to academia as a lecturer and researcher at the University of Tehran (2004-2010), focusing on service robots and polymer micromachining. My interest in soft robotics blossomed at the Italian Institute of Technology's Center for Micro-Bio Robotics (2010-2019), where I concentrated on designing and manufacturing soft-bodied robots inspired by nature. Notably, I pioneered Growing Robots, utilizing additive manufacturing to create robots capable of self-structuring and movement, drawing inspiration from plant behaviors.

I have been the PI, WP leader, and partner of several Dutch, Italian, and EU projects related to the fabrication and application of soft robotics to healthcare and environmental monitoring (e.g. GROWMIS, PROMETHEUS, Holland Hybrid Heart, INDEPEND, GROWBOT, XoSoft, SMASH, & PLANTOID).

Physics & Astronomy

# Clutches
# Fluidics
# Textiles

Engineering & Materials Science

# 3d Printers
# Clutches
# Collision Avoidance
# Robots
# Textiles

Faculty of Engineering Technology (ET), Biomechatronics and Rehabilitation Technology (BRT)

Fields of interest

Soft Care and Rehabilitation Robots - Soft Robotics - Growing Robots - Additive Manufacturing of Smart Structures - Sensor Integrated Soft Actuators - Stiffness Tunable Structures

Currently, I am investigating new materials and techniques for additive manufacturing of soft robots and smart composites. In particular, my research focuses on the design and development of novel fundamental components (e.g. actuators and sensors) and their method of integration into soft-bodied robots. I am always passionate and collaborative in bringing the soft robotics solutions to various areas of applications from biomedical and wearable technologies to education, architecture, and art.

Goshtasbi, A. , & Sadeghi, A. (2023). A bioinspired stiffness tunable sucker for passive adaptation and firm attachment to angular substrates. Frontiers in robotics and AI, 10, Article 1080015. https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2023.1080015

Ortiz, J., Grioli, G., Rossiter, J., Helps, T. , Sadeghi, A., & Xiloyannis, M. (2022). Editorial: Actuation, sensing and control systems for soft wearable assistive devices. Frontiers in robotics and AI, 9, Article 992699. https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2022.992699

Berghuis, M., Stanić, A. , Sadeghi, A. , & Rosic, B. (2022). Soft actuator modelling: Life after the Constant Curvature assumption. Poster session presented at 25th Engineering Mechanics Symposium, EM 2022, Arnhem, Netherlands.

Willemstein, N. , van der Kooij, H. , & Sadeghi, A. (2022). 3D printing of soft fluidic actuators with graded porosity. Soft matter, 18(38), 7269-7279. https://doi.org/10.1039/d2sm00524g

Sadeghi, A., Del Dottore, E., Mondini, A., & Mazzolai, B. (2020). Passive Morphological Adaptation for Obstacle Avoidance in a Self-Growing Robot Produced by Additive Manufacturing. Soft Robotics, 7(1), 85-94. https://doi.org/10.1089/soro.2019.0025

Di Natali, C. , Sadeghi, A., Mondini, A., Bottenberg, E., Hartigan, B., De Eyto, A., O'Sullivan, L., Rocon, E., Stadler, K., Mazzolai, B., Caldwell, D. G., & Ortiz, J. (2020). Pneumatic Quasi-Passive Actuation for Soft Assistive Lower Limbs Exoskeleton. Frontiers in neurorobotics, 14, Article 31. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbot.2020.00031

Babu, S. P. M., Visentin, F. , Sadeghi, A., Mondini, A., & Mazzolai, B. (2020). A Soft Sensorized Foot Module to Understand Anisotropic Terrains during Soft Robot Locomotion. IEEE Robotics and automation letters, 5(3), 4055-4061. Article 9064564. https://doi.org/10.1109/LRA.2020.2986983

Veale, A. J. , Sadeghi, A. , & van der Kooij, H. (2020). Slime filled pressurized actuators: Reducing leakage by 400,000 times. Abstract from IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics, RoboSoft 2020.

Sadeghi, A., Mondini, A., Totaro, M., Mazzolai, B., & Beccai, L. (2019). A Wearable Sensory Textile-Based Clutch with High Blocking Force. Advanced engineering materials, 21(11), Article 1900886. https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.201900886

Patenets

Sadeghi, A. and Mazzolai, B., " System for non-destructive penetration of a substrate" (TO2013A000588) - (PCT/IB2014/062758) - (EP 14747720.2) - (US 14/904229 )- (CN)

Sadeghi, A. , Popova, L., Tonazzini, A., and Mazzolai, B., “Device for automatic and non-destructive environments penetration” FI2013A000101

Sadeghi, A. , Nili Ahmadabadi, M., Moradi, H., “Human Inspired Pole Climbing Robot” USPTO. Application Number 29342930

Publications

2020

Mazzolai B, Mondini A, Del Dottore E, Sadeghi A., Self-growing Adaptable Soft Robots. Mechanically Responsive Materials for Soft Robotics. 2020 Jan 7.

2019

Meder, F., Naselli, G. A., Sadeghi, A., & Mazzolai, B. (2019). Remotely Light‐Powered Soft Fluidic Actuators Based on Plasmonic‐Driven Phase Transitions in Elastic Constraint. Advanced Materials.

Sadeghi, Ali, Emanuela Del Dottore, Alessio Mondini, and Barbara Mazzolai. "Passive Morphological Adaptation for Obstacle Avoidance in a Self-Growing Robot Produced by Additive Manufacturing." Soft robotics (2019).

Mazzolai, Barbara, Alessio Mondini, Francesca Tramacere, Gianluca Riccomi, Ali Sadeghi, Goffredo Giordano, Emanuela Del Dottore, Massimiliano Scaccia, Massimo Zampato, and Stefano Carminati. "Octopus‐Inspired Soft Arm with Suction Cups for Enhanced Grasping Tasks in Confined Environments." Advanced Intelligent Systems (2019): 1900041.

Sadeghi, A., Mondini, A., Totaro, M., Mazzolai, B., & Beccai, L. A "Wearable Sensory Textile‐Based Clutch with High Blocking Force". Advanced Engineering Materials, 1900886.
Visentin, Francesco, Ali Sadeghi, and Barbara Mazzolai. "Dynamic Obstacles Detection for Robotic Soil Explorations." 2019 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA). IEEE, 2019.

Shoushtari, A. L., Naselli, G. A., Sadeghi, A., & Mazzolai, B. (2019, May). INFORA: A Novel Inflatable Origami-based Actuator. In 2019 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) (pp. 7415-7420). IEEE.

Sadeghi, Ali, Alessio Mondini, and Barbara Mazzolai. "A Vacuum Powered Soft Textile-Based Clutch." Actuators. Vol. 8. No. 2. Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2019.

Babu, S. M., Sadeghi, A., Mondini, A., & Mazzolai, B. (2019, April). Antagonistic Pneumatic Actuators with Variable Stiffness for Soft Robotic Applications. In 2019 2nd IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft) (pp. 283-288). IEEE.

Del Dottore, E., Mondini, A., Sadeghi, A., & Mazzolai, B. (2019). Characterization of the Growing from the Tip as Robot Locomotion Strategy. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 6, 45.

2018

Meder, F., Must, I., Sadeghi, A., Mondini, A., Filippeschi, C., Beccai, L., ... & Mazzolai, B. (2018). Natural Triboelectric Generators: Energy Conversion at the Cuticle of Living Plants (Adv. Funct. Mater. 51/2018). Advanced Functional Materials, 28(51), 1870365.

Meder, F., Must, I., Sadeghi, A., Mondini, A., Filippeschi, C., Beccai, L., ... & Mazzolai, B. (2018). Energy Conversion at the Cuticle of Living Plants. Advanced Functional Materials, 28(51), 1806689.

Sadeghi, A., Mondini, A., & Mazzolai, B. (2018, October). Preliminary experimental study on variable stiffness structures based on textile jamming for wearable robotics. In International Symposium on Wearable Robotics (pp. 49-52). Springer, Cham.

Del Dottore, E., A. Sadeghi , A. Mondini, V., Mattoli, & B., Mazzolai. "Toward Growing Robots: A Historical Evolution from Cellular to Plant-Inspired Robotics." Frontiers in Robotics and AI 5 (2018): 16.

Mishra, A. K., A., Mondini, E., Del Dottore, A., Sadeghi, F., Tramacere, & B. Mazzolai. "Modular Continuum Manipulator: Analysis and Characterization of Its Basic Module." Biomimetics 3, no. 1 (2018): 3.

Del Dottore, E., A., Mondini, A., Sadeghi, & B., Mazzolai. "Swarming Behavior Emerging from the Uptake–Kinetics Feedback Control in a Plant-Root-Inspired Robot." Applied Sciences 8, no. 1 (2018): 47.

Sadeghi, A. , Mondini, A., and Mazzolai. B. “A Preliminary Experimental Study on Variable Stiffness Structures Based on Textile Jamming for Wearable Robotics” International Symposium on Wearable Robotics: Wearable Robotics: Challenges and Trends.Springer, 2018. (accepted)

Del Dottore, E., Mondini, A., Sadeghi, A. , & Mazzolai, B. (2018, April). A plant-inspired kinematic model for growing robots. In 2018 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft). IEEE.

Babu, S. M., Sadeghi, A. , Mondini, A., & Mazzolai, B. (2018, April). Soft sucker shoe for anti-slippage application. In 2018 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft). IEEE.

Mazzolai, B., Del Dottore, E., Sadeghi, A. , Mondini, A., & Tramacere, F. (2018). Robots that grow like plants. Bulletin of the American Physical Society.

Del Dottore, E., Sadeghi, A., Mondini, A., & Mazzolai, B. “A continuous process of material deposition for growing robots inspired by plants” ICRA 2018, Brisbane, Australia 21-25 May 2018

2017

Del Dottore, E., A. Mondini, A. Sadeghi , V. Mattoli, & B. Mazzolai. "An efficient soil penetration strategy for explorative robots inspired by plant root circumnutation movements." Bioinspiration & biomimetics 13, no. 1 (2017): 015003.

Sadeghi, A ., Mondini, A., & Mazzolai. B. "Toward Self-Growing Soft Robots Inspired by Plant Roots and Based on Additive Manufacturing Technologies." Soft Robotics. 2017

Mishra, A.K., Del Dottore, E., Sadeghi, A ., Mondini, A., and Mazzolai. A. "SIMBA: Tendon-Driven Modular Continuum Arm with Soft Reconfigurable Gripper." Frontiers in Robotics and AI 4 (2017): 4

2016

Sadeghi, A. , Mondini, A., Del Dottore, E., Mishra, A.K., and Mazzolai, B., "Soft Legged Wheel-Based Robot with Terrestrial Locomotion Abilities." Frontiers in Robotics and AI 3 (2016): 73.

Sadeghi, A ., Mondini, A., Del Dottore, A., Mattoli, V., Beccai, L., Taccola, S., Lucarotti, C., Totaro, M., and Mazzolai. B., "A plant-inspired robot with soft differential bending capabilities." Bioinspiration & Biomimetics 12, no. 1 (2016): 015001.

Tonazzini, A., Sadeghi, A., & Mazzolai. B., "Electrorheological Valves for Flexible Fluidic Actuators." Soft Robotics 3, no. 1 (2016): 34-41.

Popova, L., Tonazzini, A., Di Michele, F., Russino, A., Sadeghi, A. , Sinibaldi, E., & Mazzolai. B., "Unveiling the kinematics of the avoidance response in maize (Zen mays) primary roots." Biologia 71, no. 2 (2016): 161-168.

Del Dottore, E., Mondini, A., Sadeghi , A., Mattoli, V., and Mazzolai, B., "Circumnutations as a Penetration Strategy in a Plant-Root-Inspired Robot." In Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2016 IEEE International Conference on, pp. 4722-4728. IEEE, 2016.

2015

Taghavi, M., Sadeghi, A ., Mondini, A., Mazzolai, B., Beccai, L., Mattoli, V., (2015) -Triboelectric smart machine elements and self-powered encoder, Nano Energy (2015) 13, 92–102

Lucarotti C., Totaro, M., Sadeghi, A ., Mazzolai, B., Beccai L., (2015) -Revealing bending and force in a soft body through a plant root inspired approach, Scientific Reports

Sadeghi, A. , Mondini, A. and Mazzolai B., “Soft Linear Actuation by Helical Springs in a Plant Inspired Robotic Root” IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) Congress Center Hamburg Sept 28 - Oct 2, 2015. Hamburg, Germany

2014

Sadeghi, A. , Tonazzini, A., Popova, L., Mazzolai, B., (2014) A Novel Growing Device Inspired by Plant Root Soil Penetration Behaviors. PLoS ONE 9(2): e90139. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0090139

Taghavi, M., Sadeghi, A. , Mazzolai, B., Beccai, L., Mattoli, V., “Triboelectric-Based Harvesting of Gas Flow Energy and Powerless Sensing Applications”. Applied Surface Science, 323 (2014): 82-87.

Taghavi, M., Mattoli, V., Sadeghi, A. , Mazzolai, B. and Beccai, L., (2014) - A novel soft metal-polymer composite for multi-directional pressure energy harvesting, Advanced Energy Materials, 1614-6832

2013

Sadeghi, A. , Tonazzini, A., Popova, L., and Mazzolai, B., “Robotic Mechanism for Soil Penetration Inspired by Plant Root.” ICRA 2013 - May 6 - 10, 2013, Karlsruhe, Germany

Tonazzini , A., Sadeghi, A. , Popova, L., and Mazzolai, B., “Plant Root Strategies for Robotic Soil Penetration.” Living Machine, 2013, London, July/August 2013

Popova , L., Tonazzini, A., Russino, A., Sadeghi, A. , and Mazzolai, B., “Embodied Behavior of Plant Roots in Obstacle Avoidance.”Living Machine, 2013, London, July/August 2013

Sadeghi , A. , Tonazzini, A., Popova, L., and Mazzolai, B, “Soil Explorer Robot Inspired by Plant Roots.” Soft Robotics 2013, July 14-19 2013, Ascona, Switzerland 2013

Tonazzini , A., Sadeghi, A. , Popova, L, and Mazzolai, B., “Flexible Bending Actuator for a Root Inspired Exploration Robot.” Soft Robotics 2013, July 14-19 2013, Ascona, Switzerland 2013

Popova , L., Sadeghi, A. , Tonazzini, A., and Mazzolai, B., “Intelligent Structures in Plants: Embodied Intelligence in Erodium Seed.” Soft Robotics 2013, July 14-19 2013, Ascona, Switzerland 2013

2012

Sadeghi , A. , Beccai, L., Mazzolai, B., “Design and Development of Innovative Adhesive Suckers Inspired by the Tube Feet of Sea Urchins” Accepted in IEEE International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics June 24-27,2012 Roma, Italy

Sadeghi, A. , Moradi, H. and Nili Ahmadabadi, M., 2012. “Analysis, simulation, and implementation of a human-inspired pole climbing robot.” Robotica, 30(2), pp.279-287.

2010

Nili Ahmadabadi , M., Moradi, H., Sadeghi, A. , Madani, A.; Farahnak, M., "The evolution of UT pole climbing robots," Applied Robotics for the Power Industry (CARPI), 1st International Conference. vol., no., pp.1-6, 5-7 (2010)

Bidgoly, H. J., Vafaei, A., Sadeghi, A. , & Nili Ahmadabadi, M., “Learning approach to study effect of flexible spine on running behavior of a quadruped robot.” Proceeding of International Conference on Climbing and Walking Robots (Vol. 2010, pp. 1195-1201) .( 2010)

2009

Jahanshahi, A., Pajouhi, H, Tamaddon, A.H., Sadeghi, A., Mohajerzadeh, S., “Enhanced UV-Assisted Vertical Etching of PET for fabrication of Micro Systems”, Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering 19: 074016. , (2009).

2008

Sadeghi, A. , Moradi, H. and Nili Ahmadabadi, M. "Analysis, simulation and implementation of a human inspired climbing robot.", Proc. of 11th International Conference on Climbing and Walking Robots and the Support Technologies for Mobile Machines (2008). (best paper award in the category of “Climbing Robots”)

Sadeghi, A. , Moradi, H., and Nili Ahmadabadi, M., “A Human-Inspired Pole Climbing Robot”, IROS 2008, pp. 4199 – 4199, 2008.

Jahanshahi, A., Tamaddon, A.H., Sadeghi, A. , Mohajerzadeh S., and Izadi, N.,“Enhanced UV-Assisted Vertical Etching of PET Suitable For the Fabrication of Plastic Micro Systems”, in Proceedings of MME2008, pp. 197-201, Aachen, Germany

2007

Shariat Panahi, M., Sadeghi, A. , “Tolerance Analysis of Mechanical Assemblies Using an enhanced Virtual Joints Method” Vol. 40, No. 6, Jan. 2007, Journal of University Of Tehran-College of Engineering (Special issue on Mechanical Engineering), 2007

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