Robotics Research in the UNC System Christopher Brown Vice President for Research and Graduate Education 2015 IEEE RoboResearch Seminar March 6 th, 2015
UNC Strategic Directions
UNC Strategic Directions Defense, Military, Security Data Science Coastal and Marine Science Energy Advanced Manufacturing Pharmacoengineering Competitive funding 74 pre-proposals requesting $105 million Six awardees covering all six priority areas
UNC ROI NC Carbon Materials Initiative: Materials Design, Processing, and Manufacturing for Defense and Energy Needs HaraldAde, PhD, NC State University; Partnering institutions: North Carolina Central University, UNC-Chapel Hill North Carolina Data Science and Analytics Initiative MirsadHadzikadic, PhD, UNC-Charlotte; Partnering institutions: NC State University, UNC-CH Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) Revolutionizing and commercializing rapid molecular diagnostics for viral and bacterial pathogen quantification in marine waters and seafood Rachel T. Noble, PhD, UNC-Chapel Hill Institute of Marine Sciences; Partnering institution: UNC-Charlotte
UNC ROI Salinity Gradient Energy An inexhaustible Clean Energy Resource for North Carolina Douglas Call, PhD, NC State University; Partnering institutions: UNC Coastal Studies Institute, UNC-Chapel Hill Pharmacoengineering: Integrating Engineering with Pharmaceutical Sciences to Improve the Delivery of Therapeutic and Diagnostic Agents Michael Jay, PhD and Frances Ligler, D.Phil., D.Sc., UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State University Bioengineering microalgae for large-scale production of therapeutic antibodies against Ebola, West Nile virus and rabies TinChungLeung, PhD, North Carolina Central University; Partnering Institutions: UNC-Chapel Hill, NC State University)
High-Tech Manufacturing Dinesh Manocha, Computer Science, UNC-CH Partnership with KukaRobotics
Autonomous Robots NC State Aerial Robotics Club: 2014 AUVSI SUAS World Champions NCSU Underwater Robotics Club Fenrir Seawolf VI
Autonomous Robots Smart Energy Response System (SERS) AlperBozkurt and David Roberts, NC State University Partners: MathWorks, University of Washington, MIT, BluHaptics, National Instruments, University of North Texas, Boeing, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Biobots Edgar Lobaton, NCSU Alper Bozkurt, NCSU
Medical & Assistive Robots Motion Planning for Concentric Tube Robots Demonstration-Guided Motion Planning Ron Alterovitz Comp Sci UNC-CH Ron Alterovitz, UNC-CH
NASA / NC Space Grant Course Development A Service Learning Course Utilizing Mobile Robots (Duke) Development of Bio-Inspired Robotics Program for Space Systems Senior Deign Course (NCSU) K-12 Prof Dev Bringing Robotics into the Classroom (UNC-P) High Country Robotics (ASU) Student Team/Senior Design IEEE SoutheastCon Hardware Competition (UNC-C) NASA Lunabotics Competition (UNC-C) NASA Robotic Mining Competition (UNC-C) Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International s Unmanned Air Systems Competition (NCSU) Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International s International RoboSub Competition (NCSU) VIKING-BOT: Autonomous Mobile Robot (ECSU)
Funding opportunities DARPA Grand Challenge DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) Department of Defense (DOD) Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) National Robotics Initiative (NRI) Deadline December 3, 2015, then annually funding from NSF, NASA, NIH, USDA, DOD, DARPA $30-50M in funding in 2015, 25-70 awards
NC Funding Opportunities Defense, Military, Security Defense, Military, Security Data Science Coastal and Marine Science Energy Advanced Manufacturing Pharmacoengineering
Innovation to Jobs (I2J) Sequential Model of Innovation Commercialization Ecosystem Pre-Commercial Arena Commercial Arena Invention/ Innovation Proof of Concept 1. University Innovation Commercialization Council Market Validation Product Development Company Expansion (Jobs) 2. Univ. Innovation Commercialization Grants 3. Small Business Innovation Commercialization Grants 4. Venture Multiplier Fund 5. Startup Investment Targeted Exemption for NC (SITE NC) 6. Rallying Investors & Skilled Entrepreneurs for NC (RISE NC) Network
I2J Working Group Recommendations (Overview of components) RECOMMENDATION SUMMARY TOTAL COST Developing and Positioning Pre-Commercial Innovations for the Market 1. Council for Commercializing University Innovations Defines best practices for innovation commercialization at NC universities, promotes inter-university cooperation and standardization where possible, and catalyzes transformation in culture to encourage technology commercialization No new funding needed SOURCE Expenses minimal and absorbed by participants 2. University Innovation Commercialization Grant Program Provides funding and process for technology proof of concept, validation, commercialization, translation, etc., for technologies developed by NC universities and research not-for-profits $10MM annually, phased in over three years Expanded state appropriations
Recommendations for NC Pursue state, federal, and private sector funding opportunities Promote collaboration among NC campuses Strengthen collaboration between academia and industry Strive for commercialization of academic research