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

该项目旨在通过整合本科研究和教育，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。本项目开发的软机器人教育模块价格低廉，可以方便其他机构的教育工作者，特别是资源匮乏机构的教育工作者使用、采用和实施。此外，这些模块将有利于学生在工程和工程技术方案。该项目将创建一个以教育为重点的网站，该网站将向全世界的观众开放，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工作者社区分享想法，以帮助提高软机器人教育质量。该项目意义重大，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持久的有益影响。尽管软机器人的历史很短，但它已经获得了显著的发展势头，并可能代表机器人技术的范式转变，从而彻底改变现代工业和社会。软机器人以其前所未有的能力，将在以人为中心的工业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，使学生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，该项目将实现三个主要目标：(1)将软机器人研究和教育结合起来，(2)开发前沿的软机器人本科课程，(3)扩大软机器人模块对其他机构的曝光。由学生和教师合作构思和创建的新型软机器人教育模块将用于培养能够解决复杂问题的全面发展的下一代工程师和技术人员。综合研究和教育活动将激励和吸引本科生从事尖端软机器人研究，使他们具备应对未来就业市场挑战和机遇所需的经验和关键技能。该项目的成果有望改变本科学生的软机器人教育，并使对培养未来软机器人劳动力感兴趣的广泛社区受益。NSF IUSE: EDU项目支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。通过参与学生学习轨道，该计划支持有前途的实践和工具的创建，探索和实施。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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.