Cultivating the Future Soft Robotics Workforce through Integrated Undergraduate Research and Education

该项目旨在通过综合本科研究和教育培养未来的软机器人劳动力，为国家利益服务。该项目将消除软机器人研究和教育之间的障碍，并向大量本科生展示关键概念和技能。在这个项目中开发的软机器人教育模块将是廉价的，可以很容易地访问，采用，并从其他机构，特别是那些来自低资源机构的教育工作者实施。此外，这些模块将使工程和工程技术课程的学生受益。该项目将导致创建一个以教育为重点的网站，该网站将提供给世界各地的观众，并允许其他教育工作者在他们的课程中评估和实施软机器人模块。该网站将允许软机器人教育者社区分享想法，以帮助提高软机器人教育的质量。该项目具有重要意义，因为它的教育，培训和传播活动将对未来对软机器人感兴趣的学生产生长期的有益影响。尽管历史很短，但软机器人已经获得了巨大的发展势头，并可能代表机器人技术的范式转变，可以彻底改变现代工业和社会。软机器人以其前所未有的能力，将在以人为本的工业5.0中发挥重要作用。该项目将探索软机器人教育的创新方法，为即将到来的工业技术转型做好准备。为了改善软机器人本科教育，该项目将追求三个主要目标：（1）汇集软机器人研究和教育，（2）开发尖端的软机器人本科课程，（3）扩大软机器人模块的曝光到其他机构。新的软机器人教育模块，概念化和学生和教师的合作伙伴关系创建，将用于教育下一代的整体和全面的工程师和技术人员谁是能够解决复杂的问题。综合研究和教育活动将激励和吸引本科生从事尖端的软机器人研究，使他们能够获得未来就业市场挑战和机遇所需的经验和关键技能。该项目的成果预计将改变本科生的软机器人教育，并使有兴趣培养软机器人未来劳动力的广泛社区受益。NSF IUSE：EDU计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by cultivating the future soft robotics workforce through integrated undergraduate research and education. The project will remove the barriers between soft robotics research and education and expose critical concepts and skills to a significant number of undergraduate students. The soft robotics educational modules developed in this project will be inexpensive and can be easily accessed, adopted, and implemented by educators from other institutions, especially those from low-resourced institutions. In addition, these modules will benefit students in both engineering and engineering technology programs. The project will lead to the creation of an education-focused website, which will be available to viewers worldwide and allow other educators to evaluate and implement soft robotics modules in their courses. The website will allow a community of soft robotics educators to share ideas to help improve the quality of education in soft robotics. The project is significant as its education, training, and dissemination activities will have long-lasting beneficial effects for future students who are interested in soft robotics.Despite its short history, soft robotics has gained significant momentum and may represent a paradigm shift in robotics that can revolutionize modern industry and society. Soft robotics, with its unprecedented capabilities, will play a significant role in Industry 5.0, which has a human-centric approach. This project will explore innovative methods for soft robotics education to prepare students for upcoming industrial technological transitions. To improve soft robotics undergraduate education, the project will pursue three main objectives: (1) bring together soft robotics research and education, (2) develop a cutting-edge soft robotics undergraduate curriculum, and (3) broaden the exposure of soft robotics modules to other institutions. Novel soft robotics educational modules, conceptualized and created by student and faculty partnerships, will be used to educate the next generation of holistic and well-rounded engineers and technologists who are capable of solving complex problems. The integrated research and education activities will inspire and engage undergraduate students to work on cutting-edge soft robotics research, empowering them with experiences and critical skills needed for the challenges and opportunities in the future job market. The outcomes from this project are expected to transform soft robotics education for undergraduate students and benefit a broad community that is interested in cultivating the future workforce in soft robotics. The NSF IUSE: EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.