This project is a renewal of a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site at the University of Arizona. The goal of the project is to empower students to engage with the myriad applications that are related to autonomous ground vehicles and machine learning. The approach is the application of model-based design approaches that raise the level of abstraction to permit the safe operation of a full-sized robotic vehicle testbed. The 10-week Site will provide 10 NSF-funded undergraduate students with immersive research experiences, sitting side-by-side with graduate researchers and working on one of the most compelling, and complex applications of today: autonomous systems. A diverse group of students recruited nationwide will produce an exciting final demonstration of their research.
A full-size robotic car will be paired with core research in machine learning, made possible with data gathered with automotive sensors. These themes provide a context in which participants will explore research in model-based design for cyber-physical systems, machine learning, human-in-the-loop systems, control, and autonomous systems. Participants will use a spiral development process, where new project requirements are added after previous requirements are verified, as part of the safety procedures for the full-sized vehicle testbed. Through these process structures, participants will leave behind datasets, software, and video demonstrations of their projects. This project will improve the reproducibility of the work and provide records of the experience to benefit the state-of-the-art, and artifacts that demonstrate the potential that model-based approaches can empower undergraduate researchers in discovery.
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.
