On the Use of Video in Support of a Maritime Robotics STEM Outreach Program

Dr. Ali Raz is an Assistant Professor at George Mason University Systems Engineering and Operations Research department and an Assistant Director of Intelligent Systems and Integration at the C4I and Cyber Center. Dr. Raz research and teaching interests are in understanding collaborative autonomy and developing systems engineering methodologies for integrating autonomous systems. Raz's research brings a Systems Engineering perspective, particularly inspired by complex adaptive systems, to information fusion and artificial intelligence/machine learning technologies that form the foundations of collaborative and integrated autonomous systems. Prior to joining Mason, he was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Purdue University School of Aeronautics and Astronautics where he taught courses in aerospace systems design and led research projects for introducing machine learning techniques in high-speed aerospace systems. He holds a temporary faculty appointment with the U.S. Navy Naval Surface Warfare Center at Crane, Indiana and has worked with Naval Postgraduate School, John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU-APL), the United States Missile Defense Agency, and Honeywell Aerospace. He holds a BSc. and MSc. in Electrical Engineering from Iowa State University, and a Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Purdue University. He is a co-chair of International Council of Systems Engineering (INCOSE) Complex Systems Working Group and a Certified Systems Engineering Professional (CSEP). He is also a senior member of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

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Daigo Shishika Department of Mechanical Engineering, George Mason University

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Daigo Shishika is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He obtained his bachelor's degree from the University of Tokyo, Japan, and his master's and PhD from the University of Maryland, College Park, all in Aerospace Engineering. Before joining George Mason University, Shishika was a postdoctoral researcher in the GRASP Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania. His research interest is in the general area of autonomy, dynamics and controls, and robotics. More specifically, his past work has focused on multi-agent systems including animal groups and swarms of autonomous vehicles. He is currently studying how to cooperatively control large teams of robots in various adversarial environments.

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Cynthia Smith PhD George Mason University

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Associate Professor - Environmental Science and Policy; K12 Education Director, Potomac Environmental Research and Education Center

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Erin Hagarty George Mason University

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Richard Wood George Mason University

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General Manager/Executive Producer, George Mason University

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Cameron Nowzari George Mason University

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Dr. Nowzari's research interests are in the broad area of dynamics, controls, and robotics. More specifically, he is interested in the analysis and control of complex distributed and/or networked systems and spreading processes. A large motivation for the specific problems include minimizing energy or wireless communication, efficient computation of control strategies or decisions, and the use of sparse sensing and/or control. His work has applications in a wide number of areas including mobile sensors, autonomous robots, allocation of resources, public health and epidemiology, network protection, and marketing campaigns.

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James Yang George Mason University

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PhD Student at George Mason University, Electrical Engineering

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Erin Williams George Mason University

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Abstract

This paper describes the development of educational videos designed to supplement a kit-based hands-on STEM program that uses lighter than air vehicles to introduce 9th-12th grade aged learners to biologically inspired maritime robotics. Under an ONR-supported effort described in [1], the research team utilized biological inspiration to develop an engaging robotics kit with three hull shapes (a notional tuna, ray, and jellyfish) and two propulsion mechanisms (propellers and flapping). A standards aligned curriculum was developed in parallel to teach learners about structural mechanics, fluid dynamics, biologically-inspired propulsion, system design, and swarming. To increase engagement with the text-based and hands-on content, a series of videos were produced in partnership with Mason’s professional video studio, GMU-TV. This paper describes the iterative scripting process involving researchers and video production professionals, the recording sessions, postproduction work, and video launch.

References [1] McCue, L., Hagarty, A., Nowzari, C., Raz, A., Riggi, M., Rosenberg, J., Shishika, D., Smith, C., Nelson, J., “Work-in-Progress: Development of a new hands-on STEM program for biologically inspired maritime robotics,” Ocean and Marine Engineering Division, American Society of Engineering Education Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN, June, 2022.

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McCue, L. S., & Rathbun, S., & Raz, A. K., & Shishika, D., & Smith, C., & Hagarty, E., & Wood, R., & Nowzari, C., & Yang, J., & Williams, E. (2023, March), On the Use of Video in Support of a Maritime Robotics STEM Outreach Program Paper presented at ASEE Southeast Section Conference, Arlington, Virginia. 10.18260/1-2--45031