STTR Phase II: A Design-Driven Educational Robotics Framework

这个小企业技术转让（STTR）第二阶段项目的更广泛的影响是在设计，建造和编程机器和机器人的充满乐趣的背景下教授K-12和大学生STEM概念，并为未来的技术驱动型工作做好准备。该项目旨在使机器人教育负担得起，公平，并为所有年级的学生包容。通过采取多学科和跨课程的方法，通过该项目开发的产品使学生，特别是来自不同背景的妇女和少数民族，有效地参与STEM学科，并帮助他们做出合适的职业选择。该项目的最终目标与NSF的任务一致，即支持发展一支强大的STEM劳动力队伍，并帮助填补根据美国劳工统计局目前空缺的250万个STEM工作岗位。从这个项目中出现的技术创新将导致机器人运动合成的计算工具，可广泛用于工业自动化和机器和机器人的发明。拟议的设计驱动的教育机器人产品有可能改善与科学和技术的接触，并对美国教育机器人市场产生积极影响，预计到2021年将增长到27亿美元。和工程设计，为K-12学校、大学新生项目和STEM夏令营的设计驱动机器人教育创造新产品。领先的商用教育机器人系统强调1）使用许多专用部件的机器人结构的推理驱动原型，以及2）对它们进行编程，而不提供设计过程背后的任何直觉或指导来创建用于实现机器人运动的机构设计概念。为了跟上不断发展的技术和社会经济需求，新的科学标准，并保持竞争力，学校和营地越来越多地采用STEM和机器人计划和产品。这一产品将填补目前教育市场上存在的空白。如果成功，该项目将为学校和大学提供最先进的运动设计软件，新颖的硬件套件以及标准一致的课程和学习资源。该软件基于机械设计研究中的机器学习，可以在构建相应的物理模型之前创建机器人组件及其运动，并为学生提供设计过程中所需的技能和经验。该奖项反映了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 broader impact of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II project is in teaching K-12 and college students STEM concepts in the fun-filled context of designing, building, and programming machines and robots and preparing them for the future technology-driven jobs. This project seeks to make robotics education affordable, equitable, and inclusive for students at all grade levels. By taking a multi-disciplinary and cross-curricula approach, the product developed through this project engages students, especially women and minorities from diverse backgrounds, effectively in STEM disciplines and helps them make suitable career choices. The ultimate goals of this project are aligned with the NSF's mandate to support development of a strong STEM workforce and help fill the 2.5 million STEM jobs that are vacant according to the current US Department of Labor Statistics. The technological innovations emerging from this project would result in a computational tool for synthesis of robot motions, which can be used broadly in industrial automation and invention of machines and robots. The proposed design-driven educational robotics product has the potential to improve engagement with science and technology and positively impact the U.S. educational robotics market, which is expected to grow to $2.7 billion by 2021.This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase II project aims to bring together rigid body kinematics, machine learning, and engineering design to create a new product for design-driven robotics education for K-12 schools, freshman college programs, and STEM camps. The leading commercially available educational robotic systems emphasize 1) instruction-driven prototyping of robot structures using many specialized parts, and 2) programming them without providing any intuition behind the design process or guidance to creating mechanism design concepts for the realization of the motion of the robots. Driven by a need to keep pace with the evolving techno- and socio-economic requirements, new science standards, and remain competitive, schools and camps are increasingly adopting STEM and Robotics programs and products. This product would fill that void that currently exists in the educational market. If successful, this project would result in a state-of-the-art motion design software, a novel hardware kit, and standards-aligned curriculum and learning resources for schools and colleges. The software based on the machine learning in mechanism design research will allow creation of robot assemblies and their motions before constructing their corresponding physical models and provide students necessary skills and experience in the design process.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.