| NSF Org: |
CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | September 16, 2021 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | September 16, 2021 |
| Award Number: | 2133297 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Linda Bushnell
CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems CSE Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering |
| Start Date: | October 1, 2021 |
| End Date: | December 31, 2022 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $383,591.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $383,591.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
3124 TAMU COLLEGE STATION TX US 77843-3124 (979)862-6777 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
3112 TAMU College Station TX US 77843-3112 |
| 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): | S&CC: Smart & Connected Commun |
| Primary Program Source: |
01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| 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
Each year, floods, hurricanes, and wildfires result in over $125 billions of dollars of losses and loss of life. Unfortunately, Texas, the state with the greatest number of annual federally declared disasters, and over $100B in economic losses since 1980, is no exception. Often BIPOC and low-income communities are impacted the most. Low-cost ($1-12K) unmanned aerial systems (drones) and unmanned marine surface vehicles (robot boats), coupled with advances in artificial intelligence and geospatial software, could revolutionize how communities prepare, prevent, and minimize losses. However, Texas emergency managers currently lack the workforce and knowledge to investigate and implement these technologies in a meaningful way. Advances in disaster science are slow in part because researchers do not have access to comprehensive, longitudinal datasets to apply computer vision/machine learning (CV/ML) to the most pressing needs. This one-year, $384K pilot program under the direction of the Texas A&M Institute for a Disaster Resilient Texas will create a sustainable research-centric civic engagement cycle in three vulnerable communities: rural (Bryan), urban (Houston), coastal (Galveston). Emergency managers, working with research and development partners, will annually determine pressing needs. Approximately 90 students are expected to work in some form with five emergency management agencies, five universities including CMU and UC Berkeley, three companies, and two non-profits. The students, taken from the schools where 76% are economically disadvantaged, 23% African-American, and 57% Hispanic, will be trained to collect or process pre-disaster mitigation data. These activities will amplify their STEM and career certificate courses, robotics clubs, and incubator experiences. The data and data products will be immediately available to state and local pre-disaster mitigation agencies. Data in the first year can result in savings on the order of $21K per parcel by informing common planning decisions, such as protecting open space and buying out vulnerable housing.
The research component will contribute to fundamental advances in disaster science, robotics, AI, and urban land use planning by providing access to data that can answer six fundamental research questions. It will create the largest comprehensive, longitudinal datasets of unmanned vehicle imagery for pre-disaster mitigation. The datasets will establish the trustworthiness of CV/ML for disaster science, develop new algorithms for recognition of vulnerabilities during different seasons and weather conditions, and further the fundamental understanding of transfer learning. Performance data will lead to an informatics-based model of sampling that captures the technical tradeoffs between accuracy, resolution, and frequency on identifying objects and scene understanding.
This project is part of the CIVIC Innovation Challenge which is a collaboration of NSF, Department of Energy Vehicle Technology Office, Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate and Federal Emergency Management Agency.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
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.
Each year, the US experiences floods, hurricanes, and wildfires resulting in $125B of economic losses and significant loss of life, with disproportionate impacts on people of color and low-income communities. Through the National Science Foundation Civic Innovation Program, the Texas A&M System, Texas Department of Emergency Management, Texas A&M Forest Service, Galveston Economic Development Partnership and partners such as the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue, ESRI, Hydronalix, and Women and Drones, piloted a low-cost, replicable program to engage at-risk high school students from vulnerable urban and rural communities in Texas in AI and robotics for disaster management. Students in rural Bryan, Texas, (Bryan High, Rudder High, Bryan Collegiate) and coastal Galveston, Texas (Ball High School) were trained to use drones, robot boats and the latest in artificial intelligence and geospatial software to learn how to build their community's preparedness capacity by gathering and processing data. STEM teachers from six other schools participated in a workshop aimed to train them on the technology and share emerging best practices on how to insert disaster management projects into their classes. Through this effort, emergency managers have increased access to critical information for planning; communities are enhancing their resilience, STEM participation, and business development; and researchers and companies have learned more about the real needs of emergency management in order create the next generation of solutions.
Last Modified: 08/15/2023
Modified by: Robin R Murphy
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