NSF Engines Development Award: Advancing autonomous systems technologies in the Northern Front (ND, SD, MT, ID)

这一区域创新引擎发展奖为制定全面生态系统计划提供支持，以推进四个北线州的自治系统。北达科他州、南达科他州、蒙大拿州和爱达荷州都有共同的利益，即通过在交通、农业、采矿、能源、国防和医疗保健等关键部门开发和部署自治系统，来满足农村和部落社区乃至整个国家的需求。自主系统提供了显著的好处，包括提高了安全性、效率、复原力和互操作性，同时还解决了劳动力短缺和农村和部落地区的经济差距等挑战。鉴于强烈的需求/需求，本区域准备建立和深化以自主为基础的创新生态系统，其在利用启发需求方面的深厚专业知识，其关键部门(交通、农业等)的现有能力，以及其与需要或参与自主系统的利益攸关方、制定政策和法规的政府机构、工业、学术界和政府组织，以及能够实现/商业化的经济发展组织的牢固伙伴关系。该项目的学术合作伙伴是北达科他大学、蒙大拿州立大学、南达科他矿业与技术学院和博伊西州立大学，博伊西州立大学将与新泽西州贝尔考特的部落民族研究小组合作。这些合作伙伴与利益相关者(社区、工业部门等)、制定政策和法规的政府机构以及AS解决方案的供应商(行业、部落领导、学术界、政府、经济发展组织)组成了NFASIDE领导团队，确保纳入实现自主系统好处的所有关键方面。该项目将确定需求/用例，开发自主系统，并将其转化为实践。关键的推动因素包括清晰地描述需求/机会，巩固在关键领域拥有深厚和广泛专业知识的团队，及早与利益相关者接触，以确保在预期的时间框架内实现可行性，广泛利用数字工程来加速开发，紧密结合开发阶段，明确翻译/商业化的途径，以及为所有利益相关者服务的劳动力发展--特别是从高中到博士后项目等教育领域的代表不足的人群。这一努力将联合NFASIDE团队，为实现自我维持和富有成效的AS引擎提供组织和运营结构和路线图，以推动自主系统利益的快速实现。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Regional Innovation Engine Development Award provides support to develop a plan for a comprehensive ecosystem to advance autonomous systems in four northern-tier states. North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Idaho have a shared interest in serving the needs of rural and tribal communities, and more broadly the nation, by developing and fielding autonomous systems in critical sectors including transportation, agriculture, mining, energy, defense, and health care. Autonomous systems provide significant benefits, including increased safety, efficiency, resiliency, and inter-operability, while also addressing challenges such as workforce shortages and economic disparities in rural and tribal areas. This region is poised to build and deepen an autonomy-based innovation ecosystem given the strong needs/demands, its deep expertise in use-inspired needs, its existing capabilities across its critical sectors (transportation, agriculture, etc.), and its strong partnerships with stakeholders who require or engage with autonomous systems, with government agencies that establish policy and regulations, with industry, academia, and government organizations, and with economic development organizations that enable realization/commercialization. The project's academic partners are the University of North Dakota, Montana State University, the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, and Boise State University, which will partner with the Tribal Nations Research Group in Belcourt, ND. These partners, combined with stakeholders (communities, industry sectors, etc.), government agencies that establish policy and regulations, and suppliers of AS solutions (industry, tribal leadership, academia, government, economic development organizations), comprise the NFASIDE leadership team, ensuring that all aspects that are critical to the realization of the benefits of autonomous systems are incorporated.This project will identify needs/use cases, develop, and translate autonomous systems into practice. Key enablers include clear delineation of needs/opportunities, consolidation of a team that has both deep and broad expertise in key areas, early engagement with stakeholders to ensure realization viability within desired timeframes, extensive utilization of digital engineering to accelerate development, close coupling of development stages, clear pathways to translation/commercialization, and workforce development that serves all stakeholders -— especially under-represented populations across the educational spectrum from high schools to post-doctoral programs. This effort will coalesce the NFASIDE team to provide an organizational and operational structure and a roadmap for realizing a self-sustaining and productive AS engine that drives the rapid realization of autonomous systems' benefits.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.