SBIR Phase I: A Novel Experiential Learning Toy Teaching Robotics and Automation to K-12 Students

SBIR第一阶段项目旨在通过新颖和互动的机器人玩具实现体验式学习，提高幼儿对科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)教育的认识和热情。美国劳工部最近的调查报告称，只有5%的美国工人受雇于科学和工程领域，但他们对持续经济增长的贡献超过50%。在过去的几十年里，美国对全球科学家和工程师数量的贡献从40%下降到了15%。有趣的是，年轻学生对STEM领域有很高的兴趣，但根据总统科学和技术顾问委员会的数据，其中大约40%的人在大学毕业时最终转向了非STEM职业。这个项目通过恰当地激发K-12学生的好奇心和挑战智力，带来了这一趋势的根本性变化，而智力是持续兴趣的关键催化剂。通过创新和智能的硬件和软件模块，该项目在课堂和家庭中提供了增强的下一代机器人和自动化技术的学习体验，为未来的纳税人带来了更加丰富和安全的前景。该SBIR第一阶段项目开发了一个由智能定位模块和互联组成的交互式和可重新配置的机器人学习系统。主要创新包括：零螺母-螺栓架构，用于快速轻松地进行系统设置；分布式人工智能，用于交互式即插即用操作；以及个性化游戏和学习功能，可吸引不同年龄段、经验水平和研究领域的人员参与。这种游戏和学习系统有助于理解新时代制造业的各种概念，这些概念受到快速发展的经济约束的影响，包括但不限于：低成本和快速周转生产的灵活/精益制造方面的挑战；来源不可知的自动化(将来自不同制造商的机器人/工具组合在一起)对整体制造指标的影响；以及与复杂操作中反馈有限的机器人合作控制相关的困难。通过实践学习获得的这些知识，为未来的科学家和工程师做好了更好的准备，不仅能适应未来高要求的制造环境，还能探索复杂技术问题的创新解决方案。该项目设想通过为未来的制造者提供高度沉浸、积极鼓励和真正的探索性体验，显著超越当代教育玩具提供的学习体验，包括被动建筑套装、拼图、基于规则的互动玩具等。

This SBIR Phase I project is to raise awareness and enthusiasm for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education among young children through experiential learning enabled by novel and interactive robotic toys. U.S. Department of Labor's recent survey reports that only 5% of U.S. workers are employed in science and engineering fields, yet they are responsible for more than 50% of the sustained economic expansion. Over the past few decades the U.S. contribution to the number of scientists and engineers worldwide has reduced from 40% to 15%. Interestingly, there is a high interest among young students for the STEM fields but approximately 40% of them end up switching to non-STEM careers by the time they graduate from college - according to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. This project brings a radical change in this trend by aptly stimulating the curiosity and challenging the intelligence, the key catalysts for continued interest, in K-12 students. Through innovative and intelligent hardware and software modules, this project delivers an enhanced learning experience on next generation robotics and automation technologies in the classroom as well as at home, leading towards a much richer and secure prospect for the future tax payers.This SBIR Phase I project develops an interactive and reconfigurable robotics-learning system comprised of smart positioning modules and interconnects. The key innovations include: a zero nuts-and-bolts architecture for quick and easy system setup, distributed artificial intelligence for interactive plug-n-play operations, and personalized gaming and learning feature to engage different age groups, experience levels, and study areas. This gaming and learning system aids in understanding various concepts of new age manufacturing, shaped by rapidly evolving economic constraints, including but not limited to: challenges in flexible/lean manufacturing for low cost and rapid turnaround production; effects of source agnostic automation, where robots/tools from different manufacturers are combined, on overall manufacturing metrics; and difficulties associated with robot cooperative control with limited feedback in complex operations. Such knowledge, gained through hands-on learning, better prepares the future scientists and engineers to not only adapt in the highly demanding manufacturing environment of the future but also explore innovative solutions to complex technical problems. This project envisions to significantly surpass the learning experience offered by contemporary educational toys, including passive building sets, jigsaw puzzles, rule-based interactive toys and so on, by delivering a highly immersed, actively encouraging, and truly exploratory experience for the makers of tomorrow.