IRES Track 1: International Research Experiences for Students in AI-Enabled Decision Analytics for Advancing Air Taxi and Drone Operations

IRES Track 1：学生在人工智能决策分析方面的国际研究经验，以推进空中出租车和无人机运营

• 批准号: 2245469
• 负责人: Suchithra Rajendran
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: University of Missouri-Columbia
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-04-01 至 2026-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2245469&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: IRES; Track; International; Research; Experiences

Traffic congestion not only leads to accidents, stress, and vehicle operating cost but is also a major cause of climate change, air pollution, a loss in economic output, jobs, and revenues for businesses across different sectors. In an attempt to achieve a cost-efficient, sustainable and faster transportation alternative, several companies are in the process of exploring beyond ground transportation and leveraging the aviation industry using advanced air mobility (AAM) technologies. Therefore, it is necessary to train students in AAM design and operations in order to prepare the future scientific workforce for effectively handling next-generation transportation systems. AAM services are not only gaining popularity in the US but also worldwide. Specifically, since India is the second most populous country in the world, extensive state-of-the-art research is being conducted in India to alleviate traffic congestion using emerging technologies. Hence, the goal of this proposal is to develop an IRES site with US-India partnership to provide U.S. undergraduate students (particularly URM, women, and first-generation students) with cross-cultural training on the development and application of AI-enabled analytic methods (e.g., machine learning, optimization, simulation) to AAM operations. The international research as well as industry exposure acquired by the IRES participants will enhance their professional development, multidisciplinary communication skills, and ability to conceptualize research questions based on their interaction with a company’s R&D team.This IRES program will instigate U.S. students’ research interest in transformative, state-of-the-art research projects, such as (i) establishing air taxi and drone hubs in urban areas using unsupervised machine learning methods, (ii) allocation of AAM vehicles to customers using simulation-based optimization models, (iii) environmentally aware hybrid truck-drone-robot technology for last-mile delivery operations. The projects discussed in this proposal will enable the development of digital three-dimensional airspace technologies for next-generation transportation and logistics operations.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.

交通拥堵不仅会导致事故、压力和车辆运营成本，也是气候变化、空气污染、经济产出、就业和不同行业企业收入损失的主要原因。为了实现经济高效、可持续和快速的运输替代方案，一些公司正在探索超越地面运输的方法，并利用先进的空中机动（AAM）技术来利用航空业。因此，有必要对学生进行AAM设计和操作方面的培训，以便为有效处理下一代运输系统的未来科学劳动力做好准备。AAM服务不仅在美国越来越受欢迎，而且在世界范围内也越来越受欢迎。具体来说，由于印度是世界上人口第二多的国家，印度正在进行广泛的最先进的研究，以利用新兴技术缓解交通拥堵。因此，本提案的目标是与美印合作开发一个IRES网站，为美国本科生（特别是URM，女性和第一代学生）提供关于开发和应用人工智能分析方法（例如机器学习，优化，模拟）的跨文化培训。通过国际研究和行业接触，IRES参与者将提高他们的专业发展，多学科沟通技巧，以及通过与公司研发团队的互动将研究问题概念化的能力。这个IRES项目将激发美国学生对变革的、最先进的研究项目的研究兴趣，例如(i)使用无监督机器学习方法在城市地区建立空中出租车和无人机中心，（ii）使用基于仿真的优化模型向客户分配AAM车辆，（iii）环境意识混合卡车-无人机-机器人技术用于最后一英里的交付操作。本提案中讨论的项目将使数字三维空域技术的发展成为可能，用于下一代运输和物流业务。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。