Robotics and Simulation for Computer Science Education in the 21st Century

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This project is developing accessible, scalable simulation of robotic systems for use across the collegiate computer science curriculum. It is also assessing the utility of simulation in managing the time students spend on robot construction and software debugging at different course levels in the curriculum. The project is adapting JPL/NASA's ROAMS system to create the Robotic Analysis and Modeling Simulator (RAMS) for teaching material with a robotics component across the computing curriculum. RAMS is testing the pedagogical benefits of interfaces that can be scaled by the instructor to offer students simulation details appropriate to the laboratory project at hand. RAMS is using a platform-neutral approach to model robots to help educators more easily identify and exploit pedagogical commonalities among the many educational platforms in use today. The project's intellectual merit derives from researching how to make mechanical and environmental background knowledge in robotics projects appropriately accessible to computer science majors and from investigating the role of simulations in improving computer science students' educational experience with robotics. The project's simulator has broader impact in making computer science education's 'robotics revolution' more accessible at colleges with little hardware engineering support to help students develop skills at designing software for robots. The RAMS system is being evaluated as a basis for Internet resources to allow schools with limited resources to participate more cost-effectively in national or regional robotics competitions through realistic networked simulations. This project is making NASA software from popular programs (e.g. Mars Rovers) more accessible to the US undergraduate community.