Using Autonomous Robots and the Perception-Action Problem to Enhance Undergraduate Technical Education

这个项目的主要目标是开发一系列实验室练习，利用实际行为机器人的广泛吸引力来吸引学生更深入地理解认知科学中几个重要的关键技术概念。这些概念包括计算机编程、硬件设计(包括A到D和D到A转换和基本DC电子学)的关键思想，以及生物系统中感知和行为研究中的一些更技术性的概念。这两个领域对学生来说往往令人望而生畏，正是因为它们需要的技术复杂程度超过了大多数文科大学初学本科生所达到的水平。该项目旨在为学生提供一个简单的自主机器人和一个与机器人交流的用户界面。其他人已经很好地探索了机器人本身设计的基本策略；该项目的创新特点将是设计与机器人通信的界面。这将是一个多层次的系统，能够让学生从非常直观的点击式界面对机器人进行编程，通过不断增加的技术深度，并最终理解执行学生指令的软件和硬件。本项目结束时准备的材料将以模块化方式设计，以便将其纳入认知科学课程以外的其他课程。特别是，许多机构的心理学和计算机科学课程将受益于纳入这个实验室。NSF表格1358(1/94)I v

The primary goal of this project is to develop a series of laboratory exercises that use the broad appeal of actual behaving robots to draw students into a deeper understanding of several key technical concepts of importance in cognitive science. These concepts include key ideas from computer programming, hardware design (including A to D and D to A conversion and basic DC electronics), as well as some of the more technical concepts in the study of perception and action in biological systems. Both of these areas often seem daunting to students precisely because they require levels of technical sophistication beyond those reached by most beginning undergraduates at liberal arts colleges. This project is designed to provide students with a simple, autonomous robot and a user interface for communication with the robot. The basic strategies for the design of the robot itself have been well explored by others; the innovative feature of this project will be in the design of the interface for communicating with the robot. This will be a multi-layered system capable of taking the student from a very intuitive point-and-click interface for programming the robot through layers of increasing technical depth and culminating in an understanding of both the software and the hardware that implement the student's instructions. The materials to be prepared by the conclusion of this project will be designed in modular fashion so that they may be incorporated into courses other than cognitive science courses. In particular, psychology and computer science curricula at many institutions would benefit from inclusion of this laboratory. NSF FORM 1358 (1/94) i v