The funding will cover the costs of seven Khepera robots, one Koala robot and related equipment, as well as the salaries of two University faculty and four undergraduate students who will assist them during the summer development of the courses involved. In the rationale for incorporating robotics at the undergraduate level, the pair explained that experimenting with control algorithms for robotics is a great motivational tool, allowing students to see their mistakes and correct them.
Students challenge themselves by developing problems to solve on their own.
Robotics will be incorporated into St. Bonaventure's undergraduate curriculum through a new course, Robotics and Computer Vision, an upper division major elective to be offered in spring 2001. The department will also use the lab to introduce robotics in the first course of the major sequence and as the capstone experience in the Artificial Intelligence course. We have developed one, and it was an important part of the grant application's success. The laboratory will help continue a strong tradition of independent student research in computer science at St. Bonaventure. 2000 graduate Shelley McClarigan used the University's first Khepera robot to create a micro-world mail delivery system as her honors project.