REU Site: Academic-year Robotics Research for Urban Public College Students

MetroBotics REU Site项目为来自纽约市地区公共城市机构的学生提供学年研究机会。该项目吸引了纽约（CUNY）代理实验室的本科生参与机器人研究。代理实验室专注于强大的人类/多机器人团队的有效协调。一个粗糙和准备，多智能体的方法，其中小，低成本的机器人集体执行探索任务。这种以团队为基础的策略与最先进的系统不同，在最先进的系统中，只部署了一个昂贵的高端机器人，但如果机器人失败，整个操作就会停止。多智能体替代方案提供了冗余，并需要一个系统，可以在动态的，不确定的环境中协调，可以适应不断变化的团队组成，并可以与未经训练的人类操作员进行交互。MetroBotics项目为本科生提供了参与这项研究的机会，并在一个充满活力的团队中体验调查过程。MetroBotics项目的目标人群包括传统REU站点服务不足的学生，经常在计算方面代表性不足，他们在上课时工作，他们是家庭中第一个接受高等教育的人，以及照顾父母或自己是父母的人。这些方面对有兴趣研究的学生来说特别困难。MetroBotics致力于让有动力的学生在学年期间摆脱平凡的工作并进入实验室，为他们提供一个背景，以加深在课堂上获得的技术技能，并直接接触可以支持有关研究职业选择的对话的导师。

The MetroBotics REU Site project provides funded academic year research opportunities for students from public urban institutions within the New York City area. The project engages undergraduates in robotics research in the Agents Lab at the City University of New York (CUNY). The Agents Lab focuses on effective coordination of robust human/multi-robot teams. A rough-and-ready, multi-agent approach is taken, in which small, low-cost robots collectively perform exploration tasks. This team-based strategy differs from state-of-the-art systems in which a single expensive, high-end robot is fielded---but if that robot fails, then the entire operation halts. The multi-agent alternative provides redundancy and requires a system that can coordinate in dynamic, uncertain environments, that can adapt to changing team composition, and can interact with an untrained human operator. The MetroBotics project provides opportunities for undergraduates to participate in this research and to experience the investigative process within a vibrant group setting over an extended timeframe. The target population for the MetroBotics project consists of students underserved by traditional REU Sites, frequently underrepresented in computing, who work while taking classes, who are first in their families to pursue higher education, and who take care of parents or who are parents themselves. These aspects present particular difficulties for students interested in research. MetroBotics strives to get motivated students out of mundane jobs and into the lab during the academic year, giving them a context to deepen technical skills acquired in the classroom and direct access to mentors who can support a dialogue concerning research career options.