Cultivating the Future Soft Robotics Workforce through Integrated Undergraduate Research and Education

通过本科综合研究和教育培养未来的软机器人劳动力

• 批准号: 2235647
• 负责人: Wei Xue
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: Rowan University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-07-15 至 2026-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2235647&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Cultivating; Future; Soft; Robotics; Workforce

This project aims to serve the national interest by cultivating the future soft robotics workforce through integrated undergraduate research and education. The project will remove the barriers between soft robotics research and education and expose critical concepts and skills to a significant number of undergraduate students. The soft robotics educational modules developed in this project will be inexpensive and can be easily accessed, adopted, and implemented by educators from other institutions, especially those from low-resourced institutions. In addition, these modules will benefit students in both engineering and engineering technology programs. The project will lead to the creation of an education-focused website, which will be available to viewers worldwide and allow other educators to evaluate and implement soft robotics modules in their courses. The website will allow a community of soft robotics educators to share ideas to help improve the quality of education in soft robotics. The project is significant as its education, training, and dissemination activities will have long-lasting beneficial effects for future students who are interested in soft robotics.Despite its short history, soft robotics has gained significant momentum and may represent a paradigm shift in robotics that can revolutionize modern industry and society. Soft robotics, with its unprecedented capabilities, will play a significant role in Industry 5.0, which has a human-centric approach. This project will explore innovative methods for soft robotics education to prepare students for upcoming industrial technological transitions. To improve soft robotics undergraduate education, the project will pursue three main objectives: (1) bring together soft robotics research and education, (2) develop a cutting-edge soft robotics undergraduate curriculum, and (3) broaden the exposure of soft robotics modules to other institutions. Novel soft robotics educational modules, conceptualized and created by student and faculty partnerships, will be used to educate the next generation of holistic and well-rounded engineers and technologists who are capable of solving complex problems. The integrated research and education activities will inspire and engage undergraduate students to work on cutting-edge soft robotics research, empowering them with experiences and critical skills needed for the challenges and opportunities in the future job market. The outcomes from this project are expected to transform soft robotics education for undergraduate students and benefit a broad community that is interested in cultivating the future workforce in soft robotics. The NSF IUSE: EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.

该项目旨在通过整合本科生研究和教育来培养未来的软机器人劳动力，从而服务于国家利益。该项目将消除软机器人研究和教育之间的障碍，并向大量本科生展示关键概念和技能。该项目开发的软机器人教育模块价格低廉，可以很容易地被其他机构，特别是资源匮乏机构的教育工作者访问、采用和实施。此外，这些模块将使工程和工程技术课程的学生受益。该项目将创建一个以教育为重点的网站，该网站将向全世界的观众开放，并允许其他教育工作者在其课程中评估和实施软机器人模块。该网站将使软机器人教育工作者社区能够分享想法，以帮助提高软机器人教育质量。该项目意义重大，因为它的教育、培训和传播活动将对未来对软体机器人感兴趣的学生产生持久的有益影响。尽管软体机器人的历史很短，但它已经获得了巨大的发展动力，可能代表着机器人技术的范式转变，可以彻底改变现代工业和社会。软机器人技术以其前所未有的能力，将在以人为本的工业 5.0 中发挥重要作用。该项目将探索软机器人教育的创新方法，帮助学生为即将到来的工业技术转型做好准备。为了改善软机器人本科教育，该项目将追求三个主要目标：（1）将软机器人研究和教育结合起来，（​​2）开发尖端的软机器人本科课程，以及（3）扩大软机器人模块的曝光度到其他机构。由学生和教师合作概念化和创建的新型软机器人教育模块将用于教育下一代有能力解决复杂问题的全面、全面的工程师和技术人员。综合研究和教育活动将激励和吸引本科生从事尖端的软机器人研究，使他们获得应对未来就业市场挑战和机遇所需的经验和关键技能。该项目的成果预计将改变本科生的软机器人教育，并使有兴趣培养未来软机器人劳动力的广大社区受益。 NSF IUSE：EDU 计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生 STEM 教育的有效性。通过参与学生学习轨道，该计划支持有前途的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。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。