ICRA 2011
Workshop on Educating Robotics Engineers and Scientists
Monday, May 9, 2011, Half-Day Workshop, Afternoon Session
Abstract:
To lead the robotics revolution, we need to educate students to think
of robotics as not just a branch or application area of traditional
disciplines, but as a distinct emerging field with its own challenges
and special needs for integrating knowledge across them. This half-day
workshop will explore the design of dedicated robotics curricula
especially at the undergraduate level. A crucial component of robotics
education is the use of platforms that will support hands-on robotics
education. We will discuss the state-of-the art in such platforms, and
identify a list of desired qualities. In parallel, we will explore the
use of robots for teaching in other disciplines such as real-time
computing, operating systems, and engineering.
List of Topics:
- graduate and undergraduate robotics curricula
- robotics teaching platforms
- robots as teaching tools
- robotics outreach
Primary/Secondary Audience:
- robotics faculty looking to start / expand offerings and learn about the latest developments in robotics
education, and interested in educating their future graduate students.
- developers of robotics technology that could be applied to
education
Confirmed Speakers:
- Kostas Daniilidis, University of Pennsylvania
- Aaron Dollar, Yale
- Stephen Nestinger,
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
- Michael Ferguson, SUNY Albany.
- Maria Gini, University of Minnesota
- Hadas Kres-Gazit, Cornell
- Kazuhiro Kosuge, Tohoku University
- James McLurkin, Rice
- Nikos Papanikolopoulos, University of Minnesota
- Zvi Shiller, Ariel University, Israel
- Shigeki Sugano, Waseda University
Program:
- 14:00-15:30....15 min. presentations by Nestinger, Dollar, Ferguson, Sugano, Papanikolopoulos, Kress-Gazit
- 15:30-16:00....Coffee Break and Poster Session
- 16:00-17:00....15 min. presentations by Gini, Daniilidis and Kosuge
Organizers:
- Michael Gennert, Program Director, Robotics Engineering,
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, USA. Email: michaelg -AT- wpi.edu,
Phone: +1-508-831-5670
- Volkan Isler, University of Minnesota, USA. Email: isler
-AT- cs.umn.edu
Phone: +1-612-625-1067
- Nikos Papanikolopoulos, University of Minnesota, USA.
Email
npappas -AT- cs.umn.edu, Phone: +1-612- 625-0163
- Jeff Trinkle, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Email: trink
-AT- cs.rpi.edu,
Phone: +1-518-276-2510
Motivation and Objectives:
Modern robotics research spans across cognitive, social and computational sciences in addition to multiple
engineering disciplines. To lead the robotics revolution, we need to educate students to think of robotics as not
just a branch or application area of these traditional disciplines, but as a distinct emerging field with its own
challenges and special needs for integrating knowledge across them. This need has been recognized at the graduate
level as there are a number of institutions offering graduate degrees in robotics. However, undergraduate programs
offering robotics degrees are relatively recent and few in number. While there has been significant emphasis on
interdisciplinary education in general, balancing the depth and breadth required for educating future roboticists
remains a challenge.
This workshop will explore the design of dedicated robotics curricula especially at the undergraduate level. A
crucial component of robotics education is the use of platforms that will support hands-on robotics education. We
will discuss the state-of-the art in such platforms, and identify a list of desired qualities. In parallel, we
will explore the use of robots for teaching in other disciplines such as real-time computing, operating systems,
and engineering.
The output of the workshop will include (1) review and evaluation of
existing robotics curricula and educational platforms, and (2)
guidelines for designing robotics programs and educational platforms.