| NSF Org: |
CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | September 19, 2013 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | September 19, 2013 |
| Award Number: | 1354572 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
John Brassil
CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems CSE Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering |
| Start Date: | January 1, 2014 |
| End Date: | December 31, 2016 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $270,584.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $270,584.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
3141 CHESTNUT ST PHILADELPHIA PA US 19104-2875 (215)895-6342 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
3141 Chestnut Street Philadelphia PA US 19104-2737 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Information Technology Researc |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.070 |
ABSTRACT
This project will develop, implement, and evaluate a novel, scalable and transferable virtual reality (VR) based pedagogical ecosystem that provides learners with the relevant skill training to address existing skilled worker shortage in the area of green energy and environmental engineering. This will facilitate the growth of new jobs and training opportunities for entry-level positions in this sector. Specifically, the ecosystem will use cloud services such as the Amazon Web Services (AWS) for backend technology and 3-D gaming engines such as Unity3d for front-end rendering to create immersive educational modules that cover technical topics on green energy and environmental engineering. The ecosystem will introduce and sustain inside and outside the classroom: 1) a unique blend of cloud-based self-contained VR modules from STEM areas of environmental engineering that feature student deliverables such as virtual renewable energy installations (wind-farms, solar-farms, etc.) for optimal energy generation, and virtual designs for energy automation systems along with strategies to operate them at optimal capacity 2) a cloud-based technological framework to deliver VR educational modules, and 3) a play-based learning pedagogical model Play-Curricular activity-Reflection and Discussion (PCaRD) that assess the application of students? independent thought processes, along with design and operational skills in creating these deliverables.
The creation of a VR-based pedagogical ecosystem in the context of the specific green energy themes will provide insight into the opportunities for using computation and bandwidth as a replacement for selected physical laboratories and field trips. The instrumentation of the VR modules will provide data on the impact of network bandwidth and latency on the educational experience. This data will be directly useful for designing and provisioning larger scale US Ignite VR-based education projects.
The pathways to the classroom include community college level of education via Drexel?s partnership with Burlington County College, high schools via an active GK-12 grant, and undergraduate courses at Drexel?s College of Engineering. The implementation plan, course materials, and associated technology will be regularly updated and made available to the public via a highly interactive web portal in a format that is easily adaptable for implementation in other universities. The results generated from this effort will be shared via education research conferences, journals and venues, and will help inform 1) the US IGNITE community of the benefits and limitations of using the proposed pedagogical ecosystem, and 2) the ongoing national dialogue on cloud-based VR education, thereby helping all stakeholders better align their educational efforts.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The United States Green Energy sector has seen multi-billion dollar investments in the past decade with an intention to reduce dependency on oil and coal, and curb greenhouse gas emissions. As such, there is an increasing demand for a qualified workforce to fill the open job positions in this industry sector. The challenge in this market is that the current infrastructure for training students, technicians, and engineers falls short to meet this demand as traditional methods to teach green energy technologies requires huge dollar investments in hardware (solar panels, wind turbines, hydro-electric setups), labs, qualified teachers/trainers, and field trips. Our innovation addresses this challenge head on by providing the first of it’s kind web-based software system that uses a combination of desktop based Virtual Reality technology and low-cost computer hardware technologies for green energy and environmental engineering literacy and training. Once commercialized successfully, our innovation will provide hundreds of thousands of learners in schools, universities, community colleges, and training companies, with digital and scientific skills training for entry-level job positions in the solar and wind energy sector at a fraction of current costs. This will ultimately help fulfill the demand for an appropriately trained and qualified workforce in the rapidly growing solar and wind energy sector in United States.
From a technical perspective, the main goal of this project was to design, develop, test, and commercialize a cloud-based software system that uses modern desktop virtual reality (VR) technology and the Internet-of-Things (IoT) paradigm to teach topics in solar and wind power. This goal is achieved by leveraging VR software such as Unity 3D and low-cost open-source hard- ware such RasPi and Arduino. The software and hardware connect via wirelesss (Zigbee, Bluetooth Low Energy, and Wi-Fi technologies) and wired fast-Ethernet technologies. The technical challenges that were addressed as part of this grant include the interfacing of VR with real-time hardware data, optimizing for the trade-offs between latency and bandwidth, bandwidth and user experience, and browser and server side processing. The results obtained from this work will be ultimately useful to the ongoing conversation that spans VR for education, IoT technologies, and network requirements and behavior for next generation Internet applications.
Last Modified: 03/26/2017
Modified by: Pramod Abichandani
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