Cluster 2: Engineering the Future: Autonomous Robots and Nanotechnology
You
can find the future in the intersections of science, mathematics,
and engineering. A robot that does your daily chores, a device that
diagnoses and removes cancer one cell at a time, or a matter compiler
that fabricates nearly anything you can think of are possible futures
hanging on our advances in science, mathematics, and engineering.
In this cluster, we use robotics and nanotechnology as our maps
into that future. Students will learn to analyze and program small
robots, designing state-of-the-art algorithms—similar to those
in the Mars ROVER and Boeing 747 autopilots—to get the robots
to act with increasing levels of autonomy. Students will also visit
nanotechnology laboratories and the Tech Museum of Innovation as
foundation for understanding, evaluating, and explaining nanotechnology.
We will uncover patterns that transcend specific technologies, enabling
us to evaluate whatever we create in our future. At the end of the
program, our goal is that students will have a much better idea of which areas of
science, mathematics, and engineering they will want to pursue in
college, and how those studies will support their career goals.
Prerequisite: Students must have completed Algebra 1 and Chemistry.
Preferences: Completion of Algebra II and Geometry
All students in this cluster will be enrolled in the following
courses.
Robot Automation: Intelligence through Feedback Control
Instructor: Noah Wilson (Computer and Electrical Engineering)
Most agree that robots are cool - at least the ones in the movies.
But how do you get a robot to do, all by itself, what you want?
In other words, how do you get it to act autonomously? In real-life,
this is not so easy - if it were, your bus driver would be replaced
by C-3PO. Still, making robots do what you want is not impossible,
and in this course, you will learn how.
Students will learn about a fun and versatile robotic platform called
Robobrain. Each student will be given one robot during class, and
will
be responsible for calibrating the onboard infrared sensors, and
learning how to interact with it via computer programming. Individual
students will be able to use the knowledge acquired in class with
Robobrain to demonstrate basic autonomous tasks, such as following
a
wall around a room.
In fact, to have a robot do basic autonomous tasks (such as
wall-following) requires what some conceive to be not so important
or
useful - high school algebra! surprised? That's right. If you know
algebra, we will show you how to get the robot to do autonomous
tasks.
By advancing the math skills you know, you will be able to demonstrate
automated robotic behavior! The course finale will consist of a
competition to see which robot follows a curvy wall the farthest.
Nanotechnology: Manufacturing a Better Future?
Instructors: Miguel F. Aznar (Director of Education, Foresight
Nanotech Institute)and Nobuhiko Kobayashi, Ph.D. (Electrical Engineering)
One of the most exciting fields
in engineering is Nanotechnology, a branch of engineering that deals
with the design and manufacture of mechanical and electronic devices
at the molecular level. In this course students will be exposed
to the ideas of Nanotechnology through guest lectures by UCSC faculty
in Engineering, as well as through visits to labs on the UCSC campus. In addition,
students will learn how to evaluate Nanotechnology with a strategy
that will apply to any technology.
Transferable Skills: Tools for Success
It may or may not surprise you that being a university researcher requires
a whole host of skills outside of the specific scientific knowledge
required of your chosen discipline or specialty. It requires communication
skills such as the ability to present your work in writing and orally.
It requires competencies in the realm of information technology
including the ability to find and judge (the validity of) information
and use a variety of hardware and software tools (e.g. spreadsheets,
databases, statistics software, other data manipulation tools).
Conducting research requires data collection, analysis and interpretation,
critical thinking and problem solving, as well as the ability to conduct
laboratory and/or field work And, of course, a baseline competency in English,
science, mathematics and computers is critical.
The governing mission of the UCSC COSMOS Transferable Skills course
is to promote students’ future academic (and professional)
success through the exploration and development of transferable
skills: i.e. those competencies that students develop while in school
which facilitate academic achievement, the eventual transition into
the work-force and which are applicable in many other life situations.
Go to course information for:
- Logic and Probability: Reason and Riddles*
- Engineering
the Future: Autonomous Robots and Nanotechnology*
- Under
the Sea: Exploring Marine Organisms and Their World*
- Everyday
Chemistry: From Perfumes to Pollution*
- Video Games: The Design of Fun - From Concept to Code*
- Chemistry
and Mathematics: From Life to Thought*
- Astronomy, Number Theory, and Cryptography: From 1 to the Stars*
- Marine Mammals and Oceanography: From Prey to Predators
- Particle and Astrophysics: Investigations of the Minuscule to the Massive
