I-Corps: Autonomous Robotic Instructor for Workforce Training

I-Corps：用于劳动力培训的自主机器人教练

• 批准号: 2029983
• 负责人: Roman Lubynsky
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-08-15 至 2022-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2029983&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Autonomous; Robotic; Instructor; Workforce

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project will be to define the requirements needed to develop technology to train the next generation workforce and narrow the skills gap in advanced manufacturing. By the year 2025, the Manufacturing Institute estimates that the US manufacturing sector will demand 2 million more jobs be filled by the labor force. Traditional schools and apprenticeships alone cannot meet the increasing demand for skilled labor. Small- to medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) cite a “skills gap” in advanced manufacturing while receiving more orders than they can fill. The SMMs seek to hire more workers to increase output, but they cannot find enough workers with the necessary skills. Currently, the most successful solution to these problems focuses on providing SMMs with workers just out of high school. However, training costs and the time spent training workers are significant barriers. This proposed technology aims to help companies train current workers with the skills necessary to compete in the modern manufacturing economy.This I-Corps project is based on the development of an autonomous robotic system that embodies interactive learning for workforce training. The proposed robotic technology is an instructor that delivers educational materials from a remote online learning system. The technology also is a machine that demonstrates physical actions and that physically interacts with learners. By streamlining instruction with physical demonstration and interaction, the team establishes a unique pedagogical approach that may engage a broad population, including those having no engineering training. To accomplish this, a software architecture has been developed to control the robot and facilitate robust teaching. The software is cloud-based and modularly designed so that different industrial robots may be easily exchanged with minimal reconfiguration. In addition, this methodology represents the first educational robot that customizes its curriculum in real-time based on user learning style and background by collecting data on the learner as they progress through the course and making decisions accordingly.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.

该 I-Corps 项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力将是确定开发技术所需的要求，以培训下一代劳动力并缩小先进制造业的技能差距，制造研究所估计，到 2025 年，美国制造业将达到这一水平。制造业将需要新增 200 万个就业岗位，仅靠传统的学校和学徒制无法满足对熟练劳动力不断增长的需求。订单比SMM 寻求雇用更多工人来增加产量，但他们找不到足够的具有必要技能的工人。目前，解决这些问题的最成功的方法是为 SMM 提供刚毕业的工人的培训。成本和培训工人所花费的时间是重大障碍。这项提出的技术旨在帮助公司培训现有工人，使其具备在现代制造经济中竞争所需的技能。该 I-Corps 项目基于自主机器人系统的开发，该系统体现了自主机器人系统的发展。拟议的机器人技术是用于劳动力培训的交互式学习。该技术是一个通过远程在线学习系统提供教育材料的教师，也是一台演示身体动作并与学习者进行身体互动的机器，通过通过身体演示和互动简化教学，该团队建立了一种独特的教学方法，可以吸引学生。为了实现这一目标，我们开发了一种软件架构来控制机器人并促进强大的教学。该软件基于云并采用模块化设计，以便可以通过最少的重新配置轻松更换不同的工业机器人。此外，该方法论代表第一个根据用户学习风格和背景实时定制课程的教育机器人，通过收集学习者在课程中进展的数据并做出相应的决策。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并被认为值得支持通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估。