Welcome to the Healthcare Robotics Lab (HeRo Lab) webpage. The lab is in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Seoul National University in Seoul, South Korea.
The HeRo Lab focuses on developing actuators, sensors, systems, and mechanisms to advance healthcare technologies in surgery, treatment, and rehabilitation. Our mission is to find robotic and mechanical solutions that will be heroes in the medical field.
Research Areas
-
Surgical Robots
Innovative surgical tools and manipulators for improving the accuracy and safety of robotic surgeries
-
Implantable Devices
Implantable medical devices for remodeling, assisting, and monitoring organs and other internal structures
-
Haptic Feedback
Haptic feedback devices for teleoperated robotic procedures and medical training simulators
-
Artificial Muscle
Flexible, compact, lightweight, and efficient actuators for wearable assistive and rehabilitative devices
Lab News
10/20/2025 - Jegyeong Ryu receives the Best Poster Award, and Sihan Yang receives the Best Paper Finalist at the workshop at IROS 2025. Congratulations!
10/20/2025 - The Workshop on Advanced Haptic Sensors and Devices for Healthcare Robots, co-organized by Prof. Han, is held at IROS 2025.
09/25/2025 - Prof. Han presents our work on E-CAD at the 5th SNU Bio-Day as an Outstanding Research Achievement.
08/28/2025 - Jiyeop Kim receives the Best Master’s Thesis Award. Great work!
08/21/2025 - Our “E-CAD: Electroactive Polymer-Based Cardiac Assist Device with Low Power Consumption” paper has been selected as the Inside Front Cover of Advanced Intelligent Systems. Congratulations!
08/13/2025 - Prof. Han receives the New Leader Awards in Science (차세대 리더상, Science 부문) from World Federation of Power Leaders (WFPL).
07/11/2025 - Jegyeong, Yeonsu, Jiyeop, Sanghyeon, and Yongju receive the Best Work-in-Progress Paper Award, and Hero Lab receives the Top Demonstration Contributor Award at WHC 2025. Congratulations!
07/08/2025 - Hero Lab participates in four demos and presents three Work-in-Progress posters at WHC 2025.
06/16/2025 - Prof. Han presents at GCIM 2025.
05/20/2025 - Yongjin Kim and Jun Heon Lee present late-breaking results posters at ICRA 2025.
05/19/2025 - The Workshop on Mechanisms for Manipulation: Challenges and New Opportunities, co-organized by Prof. Han, is held at ICRA 2025.
05/16/2025 - Prof. Han presents at Georgia Tech.
04/08/2025 - Our “SCS: Superior-Vena-Cava Compressing Shape-Memory-Alloy-Based Implantable Device for Heart Failure” paper has been selected as the back cover of Advanced Engineering Materials. Congratulations!
04/04/2025 - Seong Joo Byeon receives the Excellent Oral Presentation Award at the Medical Metaverse Conference for the work with Sihan, Min, Narin, Hojeong, Jeonghyeon, and Jungmin. Congratulations!
04/02/2025 - Prof. Han presents at UNIST.
03/17/2025 - Prof. Han presents at SPIE Smart Structures + NDE 2025.
03/01/2025 - Sihan Yang, Taejoon Um, Sumin Kim, Jinwon Yang, Chang Jun Lee, Yong Joo Jeon, and Hoi Yuen (Tammy) Tang join Hero Lab. Welcome!
02/26/2025 - Jeonghyeon Lee receives the Best Master’s Thesis Award. Great work!
02/20/2025 - Prof. Han presents at the 9th SNU-UTokyo Joint Workshop in Mechanical Engineering.
02/14/2025 - Yongjin Kim, Jeonghyeon Lee, and Domin Cho receive the Excellent Paper Award at the Korea Robotics Conference. Congratulations! (SNU ME News)
02/13/2025 - Prof. Han was selected as a Rising Star of RoboSoft.
01/22/2025 - Prof. Han presents at the 2025 Illinois Robotics & Automation Workshop as part of the Senior Program Committee of ICRA2025.