An NSF Perspective on the National Robotics Initiative

Jeff TrinkleProgram Director

National Robotics Initiative National Science Foundation

Directorate: Computer and Information Science and EngineeringDivision: Information and Intelligent Systems

The National Robotics Initiative (NRI)

A nationally coordinated program across multiple government agencies

to develop the next generation of robotics, to advance the capability and usability of such systems and

artifacts, and to encourage existing and new communities to focus on innovative application areas.

NRI Serves Multiple Key National Priorities

Manufacturing & Smart Systems

Agriculture Emergency Response & Disaster Resiliency

Health & Wellbeing Transportation & Energy

Personal and Homeland Security

Space and Undersea Exploration

Education and Workforce Development

The Long-Term Vision:Collaborative Robots (Co-Robots)

New machines that will work safely beside people as co-workers, co-protectors, co-explorers, and co-inhabitants, leveraging the strengths of both, to enhance personal safety, health, and productivity.

Basic Research Themes in Solicitation

• Autonomy• Sensing and perception• Modeling and analysis• Design and materials• Communication and

interfaces• Planning and control• Artificial intelligence• Assistive technologies

• Cognition and learning• Algorithms and

hardware• Assistive technologies• Application-inspired• Platform-specific• STEM learning• Social, behavioral, and

economic sciences

Applied Research and Development Themes

• Establish open systems (hardware and software) upon which the community can build

• Establish competitions among funded projects• Create a repository of sharable software, hardware,

and data – benchmarking • Develop physical and virtual test beds• Transfer technology to participating agencies• Produce empirical findings in the use of robotics for

STEM education• Sponsor multi-faceted collaborative efforts

NRI Funding Data Since Inception

Fiscal Year

Props Recvd

$$ Requested

Props Funded

$ Commitd

% Success

FY 2012 687 $1,000M 61 $42M 9%FY 2013 421 $442M 52 $37M 12%FY 2014 337 $261M 52 $37M 15%FY 2015 330 $229M 66 $37M 20%

Total 1775 ~ $2B 231 $153M 13%

• Funded 231 proposals ~ 150 projects

• FY 2016 submission deadline – March 7, 2016

mani/loco18%

design/cntrl17%

HRI/comm11%

assistv10%

medical9%

plan/learn/rsn4%

swarms/net4%

manufacturing4%

STEM2%

other2%

perception19%

Numbers of Awards by Area• Total proposals funded: 231– NSF 168– Partners 61

A Few Observations

• Strong participation in process by partner agencies– Recognition of partner agency missions by PIs colors basic

research agendas– Agency partners see proposals that address problems of

interest to them in ways they have not considered– NRI has helped partners establish research efforts that they

may not have been able to establish otherwise

• Breadth of NRI fosters interdisciplinary collaborations

Survey by NRI PI Meeting Organizers

1. How has NRI impacted you and your community?2. Should the scope of NRI be changed or broadened

to include other topics, disciplines, or technical areas? If so, what topics, disciplines, or technical areas would you suggest?

3. What lessons have you learned from your experience with the NRI program?

4. Going forward, how could the NRI program be modified to make it even better?

5. If you have any additional comments, please include them here.

1. How has NRI impacted you and your community?

• Facilitated broader collaborations• The constancy of the NRI program sustains academic

robotics labs which encourages more young researchers to enter robotics

• NRI STEM materials implemented in about 200 K-12 schools, impacting 10,000 students in 2015

• Building community of US robotics researchers through NRI PI meeting

• Increased visibility of agricultural problems, which led to proposal that would not otherwise have been written

• Focus on co-robots is detrimental, causing people to propose things outside their expertise

2. Should the scope of NRI be changed or broadened to include other topics, disciplines,

or technical areas?• Don’t broaden, since that will dilute impact on HRI focus• Emphasis on HRI discourages proposals on other important topics• Broaden to include anything robotics• Broaden to include autonomy• Overlap with CPS is confusing• Bring in more federal agencies and increase funding

• More focus on various topics:– Only home for exoskeleton research outside DOD– More funding for medical robotics– Human safety– More focus on social sciences– Algorithmic robotics– Power sources – esp for micro robotics– Leave out sociology and psychology

3. What lessons have you learned from your experience with the NRI program?

• NRI fosters collaboration:– PI meetings are very high-value and build community– Learned challenges and rewards of multi-disciplinary

projects– NRI is like a grand challenge in HRI. Great way to

solve tough problems– Bring partners together under NRI broadens PIs’ views

of potential impact of robotics– Made new connections to federal agencies

• NRI is just another NSF program• Intriguing risky projects are less likely to be funded• Not enough funding Depressing when HC-rated

proposals get declined

4. Going forward, how could the NRI program be modified to make it even better?

• More funding US per capita spending is lagging EU, China, and Korea.

• Invite start-up companies to NRI PIs meeting• More funding for robotics-based STEM education• Don’t make large budget cuts• Focus of NRI to co-robots is not technically sound• DOD and NIH should be fully invested in NRI• More time and funding to mature the technology• Need a manufacturing challenge• Better reviews• Bring back proposal size categories

5. If you have any additional comments, please include them here.

• Excellent catalyst for growth of US robotics research• Keep NRI going• NRI needs more funds to compete globally• NRI could be better organized about its impact on K-

12 STEM education and outreach• Henrik Christensen should get a special award for

his role in starting the NRI• The multi-agency aspect of NRI could serve as a

model for other interdisciplinary programs• Walls between agencies should be eliminated

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