RII Track-1: Kentucky Advanced Manufacturing Partnership for Enhanced Robotics and Structures

近年来，由于3D打印技术的进步及其在实现定制设计和生产智能设备方面的广泛应用，制造业正在被重新定义，这些设备可以提供有用的数据反馈，以提高众多应用程序的性能。肯塔基州先进制造合作伙伴关系增强机器人和结构（KAMPERS）项目旨在开发用于3D打印的新材料，嵌入内置电子功能和传感器，包括3D打印对象中的电源和显示器，并研究人机交互以改进机器学习范例。该项目将生产出体积小、重量轻的部件，这些部件将嵌入机器人、假肢和其他消费产品中。项目团队将使用来自用户反馈的数据来改进先进制造、人类辅助机器人系统和数字健康监测产品中使用的机器的性能。在这个项目的五年里，来自肯塔基州八所学术机构的不同研究人员和学生，包括一所历史上的黑人学院或大学（HBCU）和一所社区学院，将参与研究和教育活动。该项目将与行业和其他利益相关者建立伙伴关系，并准备一支训练有素的劳动力队伍，以满足肯塔基州及其他地区先进制造业的需求。肯塔基州EPSCoR研究基础设施改善轨道1项目KAMPERS将开发柔性电子材料，生产3D打印结构，并将传感和其他电子功能集成到这些结构元件中，以推进人机界面。来自肯塔基州八所学术机构的工程师、材料化学家和物理学家以及合成生物学家组成的多学科团队将共同开发用于3D打印、电力存储技术、复杂传感方法和高通量制造工具的新材料。通过在制造的物体中嵌入电力存储、逻辑、显示和传感功能，该团队将开发结构增强的机器人和其他具有潜在应用的产品。KAMPERS的研究人员将从用户反馈中收集数据，探索人机界面，生成自适应软件，从用户输入中学习，从而以迭代的方式提高性能。KAMPERS将在5年的时间里，通过研究经验、实习、课程和指导，招收大约40名教师级别的研究人员，其中包括8名新教师，平均每年招收5名博士后和28名研究生，最多可达850名本科生。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。

The manufacturing industry is being redefined in recent years due to advances in 3D printing technologies and their wide use in implementing custom designs economically and producing smart devices that can provide useful data feedback to improve performance across numerous applications. The Kentucky Advanced Manufacturing Partnership for Enhanced Robotics and Structures (KAMPERS) project aims to develop new materials for use in 3D printing, embed built-in electronic functions and sensors, including power sources and displays in 3D printed objects, and study human-machine interactions to improve machine learning paradigms. The project will produce compact, light-weight components that will be embedded in robots, prosthetics, and other consumer products. The project team will use the data from user feedback to improve performance of the machines used in advanced manufacturing, human-assistive robotic systems, and digital health monitoring products. During the five years of this project, a diverse group of researchers and students from eight academic institutions in Kentucky, including an Historically Black College or University (HBCU) and a community college, will participate in the research and educational activities. This project will forge partnerships with industries and other stakeholders and prepare a well-trained workforce capable of meeting the needs of advanced manufacturing sectors in Kentucky and beyond.The Kentucky EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Track-1 project, KAMPERS, will develop materials for flexible electronics, produce 3D printed structures, and integrate sensing and other electronic functions into these structural elements to advance human-machine interfaces. A multidisciplinary team of engineers, materials chemists and physicists, and synthetic biologists from eight academic institutions in Kentucky will work together in developing new materials for 3D printing, power storage technologies, sophisticated sensing methods, and high-throughput manufacturing tools. By embedding power storage, logic, and displays and sensing capabilities in the fabricated objects, the team will develop structurally enhanced robots and other products with potential applications. KAMPERS researchers will gather data from user feedback to explore human-machine interfaces, generate adaptive software that learns from user input, and, hence, improve performance in an iterative manner. KAMPERS will engage a diverse group of about 40 researchers at the faculty level including eight new faculty hires and an average of five postdocs and 28 graduate students per year and reach up to 850 undergraduates over five years through research experiences, internships, courses, and mentoring.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.