Educational outreach initiatives

Activities

· Using sensor mote platforms as a teaching tool for distributed computing Sensor mote platforms such as TelosB and Micaz can be used to highlight problems of consensus and coordination in distributed systems, in an intuitive manner. For example, we have programmed networks of Telos motes that self-configure themselves to blink in synchrony and self-configure themselves into de-synchrony by blinking at equal times apart - these demonstrations showcase distributed, biologically inspired ways to achieve a global objective in an intuitive manner.
· Using embedded robot platforms (Creative iRobot) to visualize pursuer-evader tracking systems, and vehicular safety systems We have assembled a prototype robotic vehicle by interfacing the Create iRobots with an ARM microcontroller, wi-fi card and a camera. A network of these robots is used to showcase pursuer-evader tracking systems. In future, we plan to demonstrate vehicular safety systems also using these platforms.
· Using Microsoft Kinect as an interactive tool to showcase human anthropometry based biometric systems As part of our project on networked biometric systems, we have used the Microsoft Kinect sensor to extract human anthropometric features (height, shoulder width etc.) in real-time. These systems serve as a useful outreach tool to showcase our research.

Venues

· High school visitations as part of the Pulsar Search Collaboration between the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and WVU [2009]

· Summer camp program of the College of Engineering and Mineral Resource's Engineers of Tomorrow: Transition to Engineering program that focuses on attracting and retaining female and minority Appalachian high school students to STEM career [2013]

Summer camp 2013 for high school students: Highlighting coordination in distributed systems using Micaz motes

(with Ms. Rutika Bhapkar, M.S. student)