Sage is a robot that has been installed at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History as a full-time autonomous member of the staff. Its goal is to provide educational content to museum visitors in order to augment their museum experience. This paper discusses all aspects of the related research and development. The functional obstacle avoidance system, which departs from the conventional occupancy grid-based approaches, is described. Sage's topological navigation system, using only color vision and odometric information, is also described. Long-term statistics provide a quantitative measure of
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Illah NourbakhshJudith BobenageSebastien GrangeRon LutzRoland MeyerAlvaro Soto
This article describes the software architecture of an autonomous, interactive tour-guide robot. It presents a modular and distributed software architecture, which integrates localization, mapping, collision avoidance, planning, and various modules concerned with user interaction and Web-based telepresence. At its heart, the software approach relies on probabilistic computation, on-line learning, and any-time algorithms. It enables robots to operate safely, reliably, and at high speeds in highly dynamic environments, and does not require any modifications of the environment to aid the robot's
The Computer Museum will develop two 2500 sq. ft. computer-based exhibits the "Virtual Fishtank: Splashing Into Complex Systems". One exhibit will be installed permanently in the Computer Museum and the other will travel nationally for three to five years. These exhibits will use computer modeling of fish to introduce the public to new ideas about complex systems science and demonstrate the central concept that complex behaviors and patterns can emerge from simple interactions among simple rules. Visitors will spend eight to ten minutes designing their own fish at one of the ten FishBuilder computer stations. As they make decisions, they will be able to observe the effects of their rule selections on a computer display. When satisfied with their design, visitors can then "tag" their fish by placing their initials on fish tails and launch them in the central "fishtank". Large projection screens will encircle visitors in a dramatic simulation of an underwater aquarium environment. Visitors will observe and analyze how the few simple rules imbedded in the design of individual fish give rise to complex behaviors and patterns in the entire ecosystem. This exhibit draws on research conducted at MIT's Media Lab, The Computer Museum, and the New England Aquarium and will be able to reach people with a variety of learning styles. It anticipated completion date is March, 1998 for the TCM's version and the traveling version will begin it's national tour in September, 1998.
The award winning, computer animated, broadcast quality videotapes on a number of mathematics topics developed at California Institute of Technology under two previous NSF grants are the basis of this project that produces interactive multimedia lessons distributed on CD-ROM. The videotapes use live action footage to relate mathematics to the real world and the interactive, multimedia version moves these materials more firmly into the hands of students.
Lawrence Berkeley Labs developed a CD containing educational materials, staff training and the software necessary for informal science education centers to offer to middle school students one- hour sessions, multiple-day workshops, and ongoing participation in a drop-in computer lab. Hands-On Universe (HOU) is an active science education program that provides participants access to observing time on professional telescopes through the use of a personal computer and the Internet. The CD contains: exploration experiences and challenge games; resource material including images from other national labs, descriptions and animations of related topics, and astronomical catalogs; image processing software; a telecommunications package to interface with HOU telescopes and support network, the Internet, and World Wide Web; staff training material. The target audiences are youth in grades three through high school, and adults.
The Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM) in collaboration with the Illinois State Museum (ISM), the St. Louis Science Center (SLSC), and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications(NCSA) at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois, will form a museum consortium to develop two virtual reality interactive displays (River Pilot Simulator and Digital River Basin) and other web-based activities that focus on the Mississippi River. This group will be known as the Mississippi River Web Museum Consortium. Each museum will end up with both software modules that will lead visitors to the story of the River. The river's local presence will serve as an entry point for the visitors at each museum. The NCSA will contribute their access to and knowledge of powerful computer simulation, scientific visualization, and collaborations technologies that are usually restricted to research settings and rarely available to a museum audience or the general public. The Consortium will also develop a shared site on the WWW that will invite users to engage in guided inquiry that will deepen their understanding of the large, complex, and integrated river system. The science content underlying the project will include river hydrology and geomorphology, life sciences, environmental studies employing geographic information systems, and the physics of motion. The activities will address a number of the National Science Education Standards. Complementary programming linking these activities with formal education include a RiverWeb(tm) Posting Board and a RiverWeb(tm) Classroom Resource Guide.
The Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM) in collaboration with the Illinois State Museum (ISM), the St. Louis Science Center (SLSC), and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications(NCSA) at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois, will form a museum consortium to develop two virtual reality interactive displays (River Pilot Simulator and Digital River Basin) and other web-based activities that focus on the Mississippi River. This group will be known as the Mississippi River Web Museum Consortium. Each museum will end up with both software modules that will lead visitors to the story of the River. The river's local presence will serve as an entry point for the visitors at each museum. The NCSA will contribute their access to and knowledge of powerful computer simulation, scientific visualization, and collaborations technologies that are usually restricted to research settings and rarely available to a museum audience or the general public. The Consortium will also develop a shared site on the WWW that will invite users to engage in guided inquiry that will deepen their understanding of the large, complex, and integrated river system. The science content underlying the project will include river hydrology and geomorphology, life sciences, environmental studies employing geographic information systems, and the physics of motion. The activities will address a number of the National Science Education Standards. Complementary programming linking these activities with formal education include a RiverWeb(tm) Posting Board and a RiverWeb(tm) Classroom Resource Guide.
The Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM) in collaboration with the Illinois State Museum (ISM), the St. Louis Science Center (SLSC), and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications(NCSA) at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois, will form a museum consortium to develop two virtual reality interactive displays (River Pilot Simulator and Digital River Basin) and other web-based activities that focus on the Mississippi River. This group will be known as the Mississippi River Web Museum Consortium. Each museum will end up with both software modules that will lead visitors to the story of the River. The river's local presence will serve as an entry point for the visitors at each museum. The NCSA will contribute their access to and knowledge of powerful computer simulation, scientific visualization, and collaborations technologies that are usually restricted to research settings and rarely available to a museum audience or the general public. The Consortium will also develop a shared site on the WWW that will invite users to engage in guided inquiry that will deepen their understanding of the large, complex, and integrated river system. The science content underlying the project will include river hydrology and geomorphology, life sciences, environmental studies employing geographic information systems, and the physics of motion. The activities will address a number of the National Science Education Standards. Complementary programming linking these activities with formal education include a RiverWeb(tm) Posting Board and a RiverWeb(tm) Classroom Resource Guide.
The Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM) in collaboration with the Illinois State Museum (ISM), the St. Louis Science Center (SLSC), and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications(NCSA) at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois, will form a museum consortium to develop two virtual reality interactive displays (River Pilot Simulator and Digital River Basin) and other web-based activities that focus on the Mississippi River. This group will be known as the Mississippi River Web Museum Consortium. Each museum will end up with both software modules that will lead visitors to the story of the River. The river's local presence will serve as an entry point for the visitors at each museum. The NCSA will contribute their access to and knowledge of powerful computer simulation, scientific visualization, and collaborations technologies that are usually restricted to research settings and rarely available to a museum audience or the general public. The Consortium will also develop a shared site on the WWW that will invite users to engage in guided inquiry that will deepen their understanding of the large, complex, and integrated river system. The science content underlying the project will include river hydrology and geomorphology, life sciences, environmental studies employing geographic information systems, and the physics of motion. The activities will address a number of the National Science Education Standards. Complementary programming linking these activities with formal education include a RiverWeb(tm) Posting Board and a RiverWeb(tm) Classroom Resource Guide.
This Phase I SEPA proposal supports a consortium of science and education partners that will develop System Dynamics (SD) computer models to illustrate basic health science concepts. The consortium includes Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU), Portland Public Schools (PPS), Saturday Academy, and the Portland VA Medical Center. SD is a computer modeling technique in which diagrams illustrate system structure and simulations illustrate system behavior. Desktop computers and commercial software packages allow SD to be applied with considerable success in K-12 education. NSF grants to Portland Public Schools have trained over 225 high school teachers in Portland and surrounding areas. Two magnet programs have been established with an emphasis on systems and at least five other schools offer significant systems curriculum. Major components of this project include (1) Annual summer research internships at OHSU for high school teachers and high school students, (2) Development of SD models relevant to each research project, (3) Ongoing interactions between high school science programs and OHSU research laboratories, (4) Development of curriculum materials to augment the use of the SD model in the high school classroom or laboratory setting, and (5) Development of video materials to support the classroom teacher. Content will focus on four fundamental models: linear input/exponential output, bi-molecular binding (association/dissociation), population dynamics, and homeostasis. Each of these models is very rich and may be extended to a broad variety of research problems. In addition these models may be combined, for example to illustrate the effect of drugs (binding model) on blood pressure (homeostasis model). System Dynamics is an exemplary tool for the development of materials consistent with National Science Education Standards. SD was specifically developed to emphasize interactions among system structure, organization, and behavior. Students use these material as part of inquiry-based science programs in which the teacher serves as a guide and facilitator rather than the primary source of all content information; technical writing by students is also encouraged. Finally, these SD materials will provide a coherent body of work to guide the ongoing professional development of the classroom science teacher.