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

这个创新-技术转化合作伙伴关系（PFI-TT）项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将激发兴趣，并引导来自代表性不足背景的更多样化的学生群体进入机器人和科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）领域。这些目标将通过为学生，教育工作者，研究人员和爱好者制造商开发工程工具包来实现。该项目可以通过两种主要方式减少STEM领域各种背景的代表性不足（即女性，有色人种，低SES学生）。首先，通过向初中和高中学生介绍机器人课程，它将增加来自代表性不足群体的学生在有影响力的年龄进入这一领域的可能性，当许多学生发展出反映他们作为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对艺术，工艺制作，时装设计，医学和环境保护等领域感兴趣的学生。邀请具有不同学科兴趣的学生可以鼓励许多领域的创新想法和解决方案。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效用，并加深与有经验支持以硬件为重点的初创公司的组织的合作关系。市场上的大多数机器人STEM套件都由预构建的组件组成，这些组件可以以不同的配置进行组装，以实现各种物理设计。学生受到硬件的限制，限制了跨课程合作和创新的潜力，最终阻碍了新观点或新想法的发展。该项目旨在完善和开发入门级软机器人套件，包括材料，构建说明和教育课程。这些工具包的重点将放在机器人设计经验中通常被忽视的主题上，如制造，材料科学，机械设计，生物学，医学和人机合作。这些工具包将包括由IBM支持的硬件，其设计将基于学生和教育工作者的反馈，并最终与教育机构合作，在高中学生的试点中进行评估。此外，还将开发第一个开放式软体机器人套件，以拓宽设计和创意的可能性，降低学生、制造商和艺术家创造更复杂软体机器人的准入门槛。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.