Work-in-Progress: Development of a new hands-on STEM program for biologically inspired maritime robotics

Leigh McCue; Adrian Hagarty; Cameron Nowzari; Ali Raz; Michael Riggi; Jessica Rosenberg; Daigo Shishika; Cynthia Smith; Jill Nelson

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: Ocean and Marine Division Technical Session 1
Page Count: 10
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--40514
Permanent URL: https://strategy.asee.org/40514
Download Count: 346

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Paper Authors

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Leigh McCue George Mason University

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Leigh McCue is an Associate Professor and Interim Chair of George Mason University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. From June 2015-December 2018 she was the executive director of the American Society of Naval Engineers. Prior to that, from December of 2004 through May of 2015, she was an Assistant, then Associate Professor in Virginia Tech’s Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering. Her research interests are in maritime robotics, nonlinear and chaotic vessel dynamics, and computational fluid dynamics.

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Jill Nelson is an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at George Mason University.

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Abstract

This paper documents the work-in-progress to develop a STEM outreach program providing 9th-12th grade high-school aged learners with an introduction to biologically inspired underwater robotics using lighter-than-air (LTA) vehicles. This work includes prototype kit development targeting a comparable cost per kit as SeaPerch ($179) and SeaGlide ($249) and instructional materials comprised of demonstration videos and standards-aligned written curricular content to facilitate classroom implementation. LTA vehicles are utilized specifically for their unique ability to demonstrate fundamental concepts applicable to both aircraft and underwater vehicles including structural analysis, aerodynamics and hydrodynamics, biologically inspired propulsion, systems engineering, and swarm dynamics, without requiring student access to pools or other bodies of water.

Of modern naval relevance, LTA vehicles provide an opportunity to demonstrate key concepts applicable to submarine design without dependence on access to water. The Naval Research and Development Framework and corresponding Addendum speaks to the need for “[u]ndersea dominance…as the Navy designs and build the next generation of strategic and tactical submarines” including “[e]xpanded use of autonomous undersea vehicles…” [1]. Furthermore, the Addendum’s Integrated Research Portfolio on Warfighter Supremacy speaks to training and education as well as development of biologically inspired autonomous systems. Current interest in biologically inspired vehicles is documented in the Navy’s proposed FY22 budget [2]. Hands-on robotics activities using LTA platforms provide a novel opportunity to develop the future naval workforce by promoting interest and learning in underwater and unmanned systems without the need for access to a pool or lake to test in. This paper documents work-in-progress to develop a SeaPerch-inspired educational kit. The kit will include three hulls - balloons to be filled with helium in shapes that idealize the shapes of sea creatures: a hemisphere to emulate a jellyfish, an ellipsoid to emulate a tuna, and a flying wing to emulate a ray. Both propeller and flapping propulsion options will be provided to expose learners to traditionally and biologically-inspired propulsors. By using idealized geometries, fundamentals of aero/hydrodynamics like added mass effects that are often ignored because they are relatively small for aircraft but of relevance for submarines and LTA vehicles can be demonstrated.[3]

Navy supported STEM programming such as SeaPerch, and more recently SeaGlide, have been enormously successful for fostering an interest in engineering and robotics with participants in all 50 states and 35 countries with growth from 22 regional SeaPerch competitions in 2014 to 89 regional competitions in 2018 [4]. The SeaPerch kit-based structure has proven pivotal for widespread adoption, though access to water is a barrier. The described activities take a logical step in kit-based naval STEM outreach activities, without the constraint of water, and targeting high-school aged learners.

Citation
Format

McCue, L., & Hagarty, A., & Nowzari, C., & Raz, A., & Rosenberg, J., & Shishika, D., & Smith, C., & Riggi, M., & Nelson, J. (2022, August), Work-in-Progress: Development of a new hands-on STEM program for biologically inspired maritime robotics Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--40514

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This paper documents the work-in-progress to develop a STEM outreach program providing 9th-12th grade high-school aged learners with an introduction to biologically inspired underwater robotics using lighter-than-air (LTA) vehicles.  This work includes prototype kit development targeting a comparable cost per kit as SeaPerch ($179) and SeaGlide ($249) and instructional materials comprised of demonstration videos and standards-aligned written curricular content to facilitate classroom implementation.  LTA vehicles are utilized specifically for their unique ability to demonstrate fundamental concepts applicable to both aircraft and underwater vehicles including structural analysis, aerodynamics and hydrodynamics, biologically inspired propulsion, systems engineering, and swarm dynamics, without requiring student access to pools or other bodies of water.  

Of modern naval relevance, LTA vehicles provide an opportunity to demonstrate key concepts applicable to submarine design without dependence on access to water.  The Naval Research and Development Framework and corresponding Addendum speaks to the need for “[u]ndersea dominance…as the Navy designs and build the next generation of strategic and tactical submarines” including “[e]xpanded use of autonomous undersea vehicles…” [1].  Furthermore, the Addendum’s Integrated Research Portfolio on Warfighter Supremacy speaks to training and education as well as development of biologically inspired autonomous systems.  Current interest in biologically inspired vehicles is documented in the Navy’s proposed FY22 budget [2].  Hands-on robotics activities using LTA platforms provide a novel opportunity to develop the future naval workforce by promoting interest and learning in underwater and unmanned systems without the need for access to a pool or lake to test in.  This paper documents work-in-progress to develop a SeaPerch-inspired educational kit. The kit will include three hulls - balloons to be filled with helium in shapes that idealize the shapes of sea creatures:  a hemisphere to emulate a jellyfish, an ellipsoid to emulate a tuna, and a flying wing to emulate a ray.  Both propeller and flapping propulsion options will be provided  to expose learners to traditionally and biologically-inspired propulsors.  By using idealized geometries, fundamentals of aero/hydrodynamics like added mass effects that are often ignored because they are relatively small for aircraft but of relevance for submarines and LTA vehicles can be demonstrated.[3] 

Navy supported STEM programming such as SeaPerch, and more recently SeaGlide, have been enormously successful for fostering an interest in engineering and robotics with participants in all 50 states and 35 countries with growth from 22 regional SeaPerch competitions in 2014 to 89 regional competitions in 2018 [4]. The SeaPerch kit-based structure has proven pivotal for widespread adoption, though access to water is a barrier. The described activities take a logical step in kit-based naval STEM outreach activities, without the constraint of water, and targeting high-school aged learners.

AU  - Leigh McCue
AU  - Adrian Hagarty
AU  - Cameron Nowzari
AU  - Ali Raz
AU  - Jessica Rosenberg
AU  - Daigo Shishika
AU  - Cynthia Smith
AU  - Michael Riggi
AU  - Jill Nelson
CY  - Minneapolis, MN
DA  - 2022/08/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Work-in-Progress: Development of a new hands-on STEM program for biologically inspired maritime robotics
UR  - https://strategy.asee.org/40514
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--40514
ER  -