Using Autonomous Robots and the Perception-Action Problem to Enhance Undergraduate Technical Education

该项目的主要目标是开发一系列实验室练习，利用实际行为机器人的广泛吸引力，吸引学生更深入地了解认知科学中重要的几个关键技术概念。这些概念包括计算机编程、硬件设计（包括A到D和D到A转换以及基本的直流电子学）的关键思想，以及生物系统中感知和行动研究中的一些更技术性的概念。这两个领域往往让学生望而生畏，正是因为它们对技术的要求超出了文理学院大多数本科生的水平。本项目旨在为学生提供一个简单的自主机器人和一个与机器人通信的用户界面。机器人本身设计的基本策略已经被其他人很好地探索了；这个项目的创新之处在于与机器人通信的接口设计。这将是一个多层系统，能够让学生从一个非常直观的点击界面开始编程机器人，通过层层增加技术深度，最终理解实现学生指令的软件和硬件。本项目结束时准备的材料将以模块化的方式设计，以便将其纳入认知科学课程以外的课程。特别是，许多机构的心理学和计算机科学课程将从纳入这个实验室中受益。NSF表格1358 (1/94)i v

The primary goal of this project is to develop a series of laboratory exercises that use the broad appeal of actual behaving robots to draw students into a deeper understanding of several key technical concepts of importance in cognitive science. These concepts include key ideas from computer programming, hardware design (including A to D and D to A conversion and basic DC electronics), as well as some of the more technical concepts in the study of perception and action in biological systems. Both of these areas often seem daunting to students precisely because they require levels of technical sophistication beyond those reached by most beginning undergraduates at liberal arts colleges. This project is designed to provide students with a simple, autonomous robot and a user interface for communication with the robot. The basic strategies for the design of the robot itself have been well explored by others; the innovative feature of this project will be in the design of the interface for communicating with the robot. This will be a multi-layered system capable of taking the student from a very intuitive point-and-click interface for programming the robot through layers of increasing technical depth and culminating in an understanding of both the software and the hardware that implement the student's instructions. The materials to be prepared by the conclusion of this project will be designed in modular fashion so that they may be incorporated into courses other than cognitive science courses. In particular, psychology and computer science curricula at many institutions would benefit from inclusion of this laboratory. NSF FORM 1358 (1/94) i v