RII Track-2 FEC: Advancing Research Towards Industries of the Future to Ensure Economic Growth for EPSCoR Jurisdictions - Advanced Wireless - Integration with Infrastructure System

RII Track-2 FEC：推进未来产业研究，确保 EPSCoR 管辖区的经济增长 - 先进无线 - 与基础设施系统集成

• 批准号: 2119485
• 负责人: Dryver Huston
• 金额: $ 399.5万
• 依托单位: University of Vermont & State Agricultural College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-10-01 至 2025-09-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2119485&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RII; Track; FEC; Advancing; Research

The focus of this research infrastructure project is Advanced Wireless Integrated Systems for Infrastructure (AWISI) using Internet of things (IOT) and microrobots. Engineered infrastructure, i.e., buildings, dams, bridges, underground piping, etc. is often viewed as static, but actually is quite dynamic. Changes occur at time scales ranging from milliseconds to decades. Construction, maintenance, disaster resilience, emergency response and adaptive control in response weather events and population growth are examples that require dynamic and adaptive management approaches. Wireless methods eliminate much of the capital cost of placing wires for communication, sensing and control, and easily adapt as situations change. This project will engage in fundamental research and research infrastructure development by focusing on three main areas: 1. Advanced wireless research enabled by artificial intelligence (AI), IOT and micro-robotics; 2. Infrastructure use cases covering coastal structures, underground infrastructure, highway structures, rapid prototype evaluation of new structures, and geotechnical formations. The goal is to develop the use cases into Engineering Infrastructure Testbeds (EITs) that support research and implementation of advanced wireless methods; and 3. Workforce development and outreach that integrates stakeholders, students at K-12 up through postdoc levels, and junior faculty in all aspects of the research efforts. The project spans two different RII-eligible EPSCoR jurisdictions, Vermont and Maine, and builds on expertise at three participating institutions -- University of Vermont, University of Maine, and Vermont Technical college. The project duration is four years with pilot projects in areas that address a rapidly changing technical landscape and promote the recruitment of diverse and early career faculty. It is anticipated that six junior faculty, one postdoc, 16 graduate students, 7 undergraduates, and perhaps over 100 K-12 students with a substantial fraction drawn from underrepresented populations will participate in this project. There is potential for large economic growth in the wireless, microfabrication and engineered infrastructure industries. This research effort takes advantage of recent and ongoing rapid technology advancements in wireless communication for telemetry, sensing, IOT devices with micro-robotic implementations, increasingly sophisticated AI methods, and an integrated society highly dependent on engineered infrastructure that it demands to be safe, ubiquitous, reliable, and environmentally friendly. Wireless technologies to be researched include use of AI to control wireless sensor networks and how to integrate them into the emerging 5G/6G Open-Radio Access Network framework; integration of wireless with IOT and microrobot devices to provide practical wide area coverage of engineered infrastructure, including inaccessible regions; and specialized techniques for communicating with underground and other inaccessible infrastructure. Convergence of progress in these multiple domains, including economic and social aspects, will enable information flow with the potential to transform the construction, maintenance, and use of engineered infrastructure. These developments will be implemented and evaluated in a set of EITs for coastal structures, underground infrastructure, highway structures, rapid assessment of prototype structures, and large geotechnical formations.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.

该研究基础设施项目的重点是使用物联网 (IOT) 和微型机器人的高级无线基础设施集成系统 (AWISI)。工程基础设施，即建筑物、水坝、桥梁、地下管道等通常被视为静态的，但实际上是动态的。变化发生的时间尺度从毫秒到数十年不等。建设、维护、抗灾、应急响应以及应对天气事件和人口增长的适应性控制都是需要动态和适应性管理方法的例子。无线方法消除了用于通信、传感和控制的布线的大部分资本成本，并且可以轻松地适应情况的变化。该项目将重点关注三个主要领域进行基础研究和研究基础设施开发： 1. 人工智能（AI）、物联网和微型机器人技术支持的先进无线研究； 2. 基础设施用例，涵盖沿海结构、地下基础设施、公路结构、新结构的快速原型评估和岩土构造。 目标是将用例开发为工程基础设施测试台（EIT），支持先进无线方法的研究和实施； 3. 劳动力发展和推广，将利益相关者、K-12 学生到博士后级别以及初级教师纳入研究工作的各个方面。该项目跨越佛蒙特州和缅因州这两个符合 RII 资格的 EPSCoR 管辖区，并以佛蒙特大学、缅因大学和佛蒙特技术学院这三个参与机构的专业知识为基础。该项目为期四年，试点项目旨在应对快速变化的技术环境并促进招聘多元化和早期职业教师。预计 6 名初级教师、1 名博士后、16 名研究生、7 名本科生以及可能超过 100 名 K-12 学生（其中很大一部分来自代表性不足的人群）将参与该项目。无线、微加工和工程基础设施行业具有巨大的经济增长潜力。这项研究工作利用了遥测、传感、具有微型机器人实现的物联网设备、日益复杂的人工智能方法以及高度依赖工程基础设施（要求安全、无处不在）的集成社会的无线通信领域最新和持续的快速技术进步。 、可靠、环保。将研究的无线技术包括利用人工智能控制无线传感器网络以及如何将其集成到新兴的5G/6G开放式无线接入网络框架中；无线与物联网和微型机器人设备的集成，为工程基础设施提供实际的广域覆盖，包括难以到达的区域；以及与地下和其他难以到达的基础设施进行通信的专业技术。这些多个领域（包括经济和社会方面）的进步的融合将使信息流有可能改变工程基础设施的建设、维护和使用。这些开发将在一系列针对沿海结构、地下基础设施、公路结构、原型结构快速评估和大型岩土构造的 EIT 中实施和评估。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。