Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The University of Connecticut received a $300,000 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure under the Computer and Information Science and Engineering program (CFDA 47.070), awarded September 1, 2026, with completion targeted for August 31, 2029. This collaborative research initiative, titled "HUGAI: Human-Geo-AI Coalition Infrastructure Engines for Co-Designing Human-Centric Urban Micromobility Research," develops cyberinfrastructure software, datasets, and artificial intelligence models to support research on the safe and considerate integration of emerging micromobility vehicles—including electric scooters, bikes, autonomous delivery robots, and personal vehicles—into urban transportation systems.

The project delivers three primary service engines to support the research community. First, a Sensing and Perception Engine processes machine, environment, and human interaction data from established testbeds to improve micromobility-to-everything interaction data preparation and augmentation for AI model training. Second, an MEI Model Engine provides AI models and tools with self-explainable graph model support, enabling researchers to expand sensing modality studies and gain interpretable insights across multiple datasets. Third, a Coalition Engine facilitates community engagement and knowledge-sharing among researchers across disciplines including human-computer interactions, robotics, remote sensing, and artificial intelligence. The infrastructure supports practical solutions for mitigating micromobility-related conflicts and accidents while preparing high school and college students for the emerging workforce in this research domain.