RET Site: Cross-disciplinary Research Experiences on Smart Cities for Nevada Teachers: Integrating Big Data into Robotics

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This Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Site at the University of Nevada Reno aims to deliver a unique holistic research experience to K-12 teachers of Nevada in relation to future smart cities and the cutting edge topics of robotics and big data, as well as their intersection. The overarching goal is to enable a critical mass of teachers in Nevada to be able to help their students develop a passion for these domains, strengthen their critical thinking, and broadly nurture an interest to excel in STEM fields. Research in the respective domains is currently of paramount importance in order to address the multitude of open challenges to achieve truly autonomous driving and the realization of smart cities. The relevance and significance of cross-disciplinary research in robotics and big data cannot be overstated in the context of STEM education and its potential is daily growing. This site will attract K-12 teacher participants to STEM education by providing tangible research experiences and appropriately designed knowledge modules, in turn enhancing the STEM education for their students and further designing and deploying transferable research and education tools for the school environment.This project aims to nurture an interest and passion for robotics and big data research to K-12 teachers of all levels, especially from the perspective of their intersection for smart cities. The RET Site will provide a tangible experience through a) educational activities on the fundamental principles of autonomous driving, machine learning, and big data, b) a custom-designed, miniaturized, and transferable test-bed of smart cities called "Robocity", and c) hands-on activities on an instrumented electric bus and a drive-by-wire Lincoln MKZ autonomous car. Through the envisioned activities, it is anticipated that Nevada teachers will be actively engaged and gain knowledge and research experiences in robotic perception and machine learning, control, path planning, big data analytics, and big data system design. To enhance the quality of STEM education in local K-12 schools at all levels, a team with both senior and young faculty has been assembled to support the development of curricular modules and provide a set of mechanisms that allow research to be seamlessly transferred to the school environment. The project will engage a thorough plan for project evaluation and a participant recruitment process that focuses on underrepresented groups and respective student populations. To ensure that the developed skills acquired by teachers are transferred to the classroom, the PI team will engage in follow-up activities with the RET participants to support the installation of Robocity. The PI team will also offer demonstrations and tangible exercises at schools, as well as workshops at the University of Nevada, Reno.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.