REU Site: Launching Aerospace's Underrepresented Students into the Next Chapter - Unmanned Aerial Systems (LAUNCH-UAS)

本科生研究经验（REU）网站的目标是促进代表性不足的少数民族（URM）学生的更多参与（例如，非洲裔美国人，西班牙裔和妇女）在无人驾驶航空系统（UAS）的航空航天工程研究。为了实现这一目标，爱荷华州州立大学的航空航天工程系提供了REU网站，题为“将航空航天代表性不足的学生送入下一章-无人机系统”（LAUNCH-UAS）。该网站有四个目标：（1）为学生提供UAS最前沿的夏季研究经验，（2）让学生接触航空航天研究项目和工程师，（3）培养学生的研究和专业技能，为研究生课程做好准备，以及（4）为学生提供机会，为研究生课程和其他课程建立导师社区。LAUNCH-UAS网站将汇集URM学生和航空航天工程社区的广泛成员，打破URM学生参与航空航天领域的障碍。作为这个网站的结果，对社会的潜在好处包括：发展准备充分，积极的URM学生谁想要追求航空航天工程研究生课程，并进入劳动力市场;教育航空航天工程师谁是了解航空航天学术界和工业界的机会，并最终将作为鼓舞人心的导师URM工程师的后代;通过为期10周的夏季LAUNCH-UAS网站，URM学生将有机会对长续航力UAS的操作和自主方面进行研究。学生将参加与无人机相关的多个独立研究项目之一，例如开发机载硬件，持续监控安全和自主操作的基本UAS组件;建模和模拟自主UAS的低空交通管理系统;建模和模拟UAS的操作，并检查其道德，法律的，社会和环境影响;开发感应充电能力，为无人机系统在运行时供电;设计、建造和试验无人机系统的机载喷雾系统，并对喷雾液滴进行表征;开发低功率防冰/除冰技术，并检查各种防冰涂层，以实现更安全的长期自主无人机飞行;并创建一个教育模块，以提高工程师对围绕无人机系统操作的道德问题的认识。除了对UAS进行独立研究外，学生还将参加一些LAUCH-UAS站点组件，包括专业发展研讨会，实地考察和实验室图尔斯参观，研究午餐研讨会和社交活动。还有一系列的作业，旨在让学生有机会准备他们作为独立研究人员和研究生应该完成的典型的演讲和文件。这个网站是由国防部与NSF REU计划合作支持的。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值进行评估来支持的和更广泛的影响审查标准。

The goal of this Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site is to promote greater participation of underrepresented minority (URM) students (e.g., African-Americans, Hispanics, and women) in aerospace engineering research on unmanned-aerial systems (UAS). To achieve this goal, the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Iowa State University offers the REU site, entitled Launching Aerospace's Underrepresented Students into the Next Chapter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (LAUNCH-UAS). There are four objectives for this site: (1) provide students with cutting-edge summer research experience in UAS, (2) expose students to aerospace research projects and engineers, (3) develop students' research and professional skills to prepare them for graduate programs, and (4) provide students with opportunities to build a community of mentors for graduate programs and beyond. The LAUNCH-UAS site will bring together URM students and a broad range of members of the aerospace engineering community to break down barriers for URM students to participate in the aerospace field. Potential benefits to society as a result of this site include: developing well prepared, motivated URM students who want to pursue aerospace engineering graduate programs and enter the workforce; educating aerospace engineers who are knowledgeable about opportunities within aerospace academia and industry and will eventually serve as inspiring mentors to future generations of URM engineers; and sharing key components and lesson learned from the LAUNCH-UAS site to the broader U.S. colleges and universities.Through a 10-week summer LAUNCH-UAS site, URM students will have an opportunity to conduct research on operation and autonomy aspects of long-endurance UAS. Students will participate in one of multiple independent research projects relating to UAS, such as developing onboard hardware that continuously monitors essential UAS components for safe and autonomous operation; model and simulate low-altitude traffic management systems for autonomous UAS; model and simulate the operation of UAS and examine their ethical, legal, societal, and environmental implications; develop an inductive charging capability for supplying power to UAS while in operation; design, build, and experiment with onboard spray systems for UAS and characterize the spray droplets; develop low-power anti-/de-icing techniques and examine various icephobic coatings for safer long-term autonomous UAS flights; and create an educational module that increases engineers' awareness of ethical issues surrounding the operation of UAS. In addition to conducting independent research on UAS, students will participate in a number of LAUCH-UAS site components that include professional development workshops, field trips and lab tours, research luncheon seminars, and social activities. There is also a series of assignments intended to give students opportunities to prepare presentations and documents typical of those that they would be expected to complete as independent researchers and as graduate students.This site is supported by the Department of Defense in partnership with the NSF REU program.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.