The National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Engineering (CFDA 47.041) awarded a $1,640,000 Project Grant to the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) to develop more resilient autonomous robotic systems. The 4-year project, titled "EFRI BRAID: Resilient Autonomous Navigation Inspired by the Insect Central Complex and Sensorimotor Control Motifs," aims to leverage recent discoveries in insect neuroscience to enable robots to rapidly adapt to changes in their environment or damage to their sensory and motor systems.
UNR is the prime awardee, with sub-awards planned for UC Berkeley, the University of Washington, and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) to collaborate on this multidisciplinary research. Key goals include translating concepts from insect navigation and locomotion into engineering principles, implementing them on multirotor systems, and providing research experiences for students from middle school to undergraduate levels. The project also aims to develop open-source course content to increase neuroscience fluency among engineering students.
Generated 5/14/24, 2:02 AM