PFI-TT: Soft robotic educational kits for recruiting a more diverse group of students into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields

PFI-TT：软体机器人教育套件，用于招募更多元化的学生进入科学、技术、工程和数学 (STEM) 领域

• 批准号: 2213926
• 负责人: Conor Walsh
• 金额: $ 25万
• 依托单位: Harvard University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-07-15 至 2024-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2213926&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: PFI; TT; Soft; robotic; educational

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project will be to spark interest and induct a more diverse group of students from underrepresented backgrounds into robotics and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields generally. These objectives will be enabled through the development of engineering toolkits for students, educators, researchers, and hobbyist-makers. This project may reduce the underrepresentation of various backgrounds in STEM fields (i.e. women, people of color, low SES students) in two primary ways. First, by introducing robotics curriculum to students in middle and high school, it will increase the likelihood that students from underrepresented groups will have access to this field at an impactful age, when many students develop identities that reflect their future societal roles as adults. Additionally, the multidisciplinary approach of the soft robotic kits may appeal to students with interests in areas like art, craft making, fashion design, medicine, and environmental protection. Inviting students with diverse subject interests may encourage innovative ideas and solutions in many fields. The project seeks to develop new soft robotic STEM kits, evaluate their utility with educational partners, and deepen partnerships with organizations that have experience supporting hardware-focused startups. Most of the robotics STEM kits on the market consist of pre-built components that can be assembled in different configurations to realize various physical designs. Students are limited by the constraints of the hardware, limiting the potential for cross-curricular collaboration and innovation and ultimately discouraging the development of new perspectives or novel ideas. This project seeks to refine and develop entry-level soft robotic kits complete with materials, build instructions, and an educational curriculum. The focus of the kits will be on subjects typically neglected in introductory robotic design experiences such as manufacturing, material science, mechanical design, biology, medicine, and human-robot cooperation. These kits will consist of curriculum-backed hardware and their design will be based on feedback from students and educators, and ultimately be evaluated in pilots with high school students in partnership with educational organizations. In addition, a first open-ended soft robotic kit will be developed to broaden the possibilities for design and creativity and lower the barrier of entry for students, makers, and artists for creating more sophisticated soft robots.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.

这种伙伴关系对创新 - 技术翻译（PFI -TT）项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是激发利益并吸引来自代表性不足的背景的学生和科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）领域的更多多样化的学生。这些目标将通过为学生，教育工作者，研究人员和业余爱好者制定者的工程工具包开发来实现。该项目可能以两种主要方式减少茎领域（即女性，有色人种，低SES学生）的各种背景的代表性不足。首先，通过向中学和高中的学生介绍机器人课程，这将增加代表性不足的团体学生的可能性，当许多学生发展出反映他们成年人未来社会角色的身份时。此外，软机器人套件的​​多学科方法可能会吸引在艺术，手工艺，时装设计，医学和环境保护等领域感兴趣的学生。邀请具有不同主题兴趣的学生可以鼓励许多领域的创新思想和解决方案。该项目旨在开发新的软机器人STEM套件，评估其与教育合作伙伴的实用性，并加深与具有支持专注于硬件初创公司的经验的组织的合作伙伴关系。市场上的大多数机器人型茎套件都由预先构建的组件组成，这些组件可以通过不同的配置组装，以实现各种物理设计。学生受硬件的限制限制，限制了跨课程协作和创新的潜力，并最终阻止了新的观点或新思想的发展。该项目旨在完善和开发带有材料，构建说明和教育课程的入门级软机器人套件。套件的重点将放在通常忽略的机器人设计经验中的主题上，例如制造，材料科学，机械设计，生物学，医学和人类机器人合作。这些套件将由课程支持的硬件组成，其设计将基于学生和教育工作者的反馈，并最终与高中生与教育组织合作的飞行员进行评估。此外，将开发出第一个开放式软机器人套件，以扩大设计和创造力的可能性，并降低学生，制造商和艺术家的入学障碍，以创建更复杂的软机器人。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过评估该基金会的知识功能和广泛的影响来审查NSF的法定任务，并被视为值得通过评估的支持。