Project Grant FG5204NA25591

This three-year, $500,000 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Computer and Information Science and Engineering program aims to develop strategies for robotic manipulation without prior shape models of objects. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology will receive funding to design a state-estimation and task planning system that combines neural network perception with uncertainty modeling. This will enable robots to operate in less restrictive, real-world environments like...

This three-year Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Computer and Information Science and Engineering program totals $749,654 to develop an intelligent immersive learning environment for robotics education. Florida International University will research, develop and test an AI-assisted adaptive learning system delivering an industrial robotics curriculum through virtual reality. Key innovations include adaptive intelligent tutoring, AI-coaching detecting learner failure patterns,...

This $750,000 Project Grant was awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Computing and Communication Foundations under the CFDA program "Computer and Information Science and Engineering." The grant was awarded to the University of Texas at Austin to develop a new paradigm for robot learning from demonstrations (LfD) using program synthesis techniques. The research aims to address limitations in existing neural network-based LfD approaches by combining them with...

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $703,424 Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program grant to Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (Virginia Tech) to develop hardware and software tools to facilitate communication between robots and humans through visual, auditory, and haptic interfaces. The research aims to formalize the bidirectional exchange between humans and robots as a closed-loop dynamical system, enabling assistive robots to learn user preferences...

This National Science Foundation (NSF) STEM Education program (CFDA 47.076) Project Grant award of $349,736 to Columbia State Community College (CSCC) will fund the development and implementation of a 1-year Robotics Technician Certification program. The program aims to address regional skills gaps in automation and robotics by providing students with industry-recognized certifications and 16 hours of college credit. In partnership with Middle Tennessee State University, CSCC will develop 11...

This $425,000 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) program (CFDA 47.070) supports research to develop a framework for ensuring the safety of future robotic systems. The research project, led by The Trustees of Princeton University, aims to lay the foundation for safe robot autonomy by enabling robots to continually prove the safety of their actions under a wide range of operating conditions, from complex physical...

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's STEM Education (CFDA 47.076) program provides $1,300,000 to the University of Virginia to develop low-cost, adaptable physical computing tools such as robots to provide equitable opportunities for elementary and middle school students to learn computer science (CS) skills and concepts. The project aims to investigate how these educational robots can help students develop CS understanding and executive functioning skills, while...

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a five-year, $361,090 CAREER grant under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) to Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) to develop new methods for enabling robots to better understand and respond to nuanced safety challenges in real-world environments. The research aims to expand the understanding of how robots can make safe decisions, moving beyond just collision avoidance to address more complex safety considerations, such as avoiding areas marked...

This $549,564 federal Project Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Engineering program supports research at Purdue University on human-robot collaboration for controlling soft robots made of flexible or stretchable materials. The 3-year project aims to: Investigate real-time features of user workload when operating soft robotic systems to understand how robot features affect operator workload. Develop mechanical models to predict soft robot limits and prevent...

The U.S. Department of the Navy's Office of Naval Research awarded a $540,483.73 Project Grant under the Basic and Applied Scientific Research program (CFDA 12.300) to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on October 1, 2024. The grant aims to develop and demonstrate a novel "HARMONIC: HUMAN-AI ROBOTIC TEAM MEMBER OPERATING WITH NATURAL INTELLIGENCE AND COMMUNICATION" system. The project will explore the utility of an advanced cognitive robotic system, its collaborative capabilities with...