Applications for an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle A Case Study of Issues of Complexity in Undergraduate Engineering Design

本基金将支持解决本科工程教育中一个关键问题的实验。该测试项目将基于自主水下航行器（AUV），将涉及硬件和软件设计以及辅助系统的开发，以进行科学和工程调查，以获得所需的环境数据。由麻省理工学院人工智能实验室的罗德尼·布鲁克斯（Rodney Brooks）开发的AUV分层控制方法，将机器人控制问题分解为一系列相互作用的行为。这使得小型学生团队能够在单一行为上工作，但也迫使他们协作工作，以便集成行为之间的交互。该项目将通过提供设计、工程、施工和现场测试方面的经验，为本科生的研究经历增加一个新的维度。

This grant will support experiment which will address a critical issue in undergraduate engineering education. The test project will be based on an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and will involve hardware and software design and development of ancillary systems necessary to carry out scientific and engineering surveys to obtain needed environmental data. The AUV's layered control approach, developed by Rodney Brooks at MIT's Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, breaks the robot control problem into a set of interacting behaviors. This enables small student teams to work on a single behavior but also forces them to work collaboratively in order to integrate interaction among behaviors. This project will add a new dimension to Research Experiences for Undergraduates by providing experience in design, engineering, construction, and field testing.