EAGER: A Gateway Drone for High School Students

这项提案的目的是扩大新英格兰地区高中生接受计算机科学和机器人教育的机会，特别强调来自代表性不足群体的学生。该奖项将使我们能够向学生分发300架低成本Raspberry Pi/Python自主无人机;培训教师向学生教授机器人入门课程;并评估该计划在吸引和保留代表性不足的群体方面的影响。这个项目将对新英格兰地区的数百名高中生产生影响。 调查人员将与普罗维登斯地区的两所当地高中，普罗维登斯职业和技术学院（PCTA）和大都会区域职业和技术中心（MET）密切合作。在第二年，研究人员将再招募14个地点，每个地点有20名学生，总共有300架无人机。 该项目将扩大无人机项目的规模，以更多的学生，并试行一个模型，可以在未来增长得更多。该项目将测试的假设，分发自主无人机套件给高中生将增加参与和保留在STEM的代表性不足的群体。提供一个教学生建造和驾驶自动无人机的实践项目，将增加学生在技术领域的参与，提高大学入学率，并提供基本技能。 研究人员将使用布朗的开放源代码课程进行自主教育，强调实践经验。无人机配备了单目摄像头和执行器，并使用Raspberry Pi 3进行所有处理。 因此，基站机器可以是任何带有Web浏览器的计算机，因此该程序可以使用学校现有的计算资源运行，而无需安装软件。 这个试点项目将使数百名高中生能够建造无人机。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力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 aim of this proposal is to broaden access to computer science and robotics education for high school students in the New England area, with a particular emphasis on students from underrepresented groups. This award will allow us to distribute 300 low-cost Raspberry Pi/Python autonomous drones to students; train teachers to teach an introductory robotics course to the students; and assess the impact of this program at attracting and retaining underrepresented groups to STEM. This project will have an impact on hundreds of high school students in the New England area. The investigators will have a close collaboration with two local high schools in the Providence area, the Providence Career and Technical Academy (PCTA) and the Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center (MET). In year 2, the investigators will recruit 14 more sites, with 20 students at each site for a total of 300 drones. This project will scale the drone program to more students, and pilot a model that can grow even more in the future.This project will test the hypothesis that distributing autonomous drone kits to high school students will increase the participation and retention of underrepresented groups in STEM. Providing a hands-on project that teaches students to build and fly an autonomous drone will increase the student's participation in technical fields, increase the rate of college enrollments, and provide essential skills. The investigators will use Brown's accessible open-source curriculum for autonomy education that emphasizes hands-on experience. The drone is equipped with a monocular camera and actuators, and performs all processing on board with a Raspberry Pi 3. As a result, the base station machine can be any computer with a web browser, so the program can run using a school's existing computing resources, without requiring software installation. This pilot project will enable hundreds of high school students to build drones.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.