FAU says $500,000 NSF grant will build AI robotics training platform
A four-year grant will support shared computing, simulation and physical robotics resources at Florida Atlantic, the university says.
Key Takeaways
- •FAU says its engineering college received a four-year, $500,000 NSF grant for AI, robotics and cyber-physical systems research and training.
- •Planned resources include digital-twin environments, datasets, simulation tools, executable notebooks and a networked robotics testbed.
- •The project is led by Xiangnan Zhong with three co-principal investigators; FAU has not announced a start date or student target.
Florida Atlantic University says its College of Engineering and Computer Science received a four-year, $500,000 National Science Foundation grant to develop research and training infrastructure for artificial intelligence, robotics and cyber-physical systems. The university announced the award Oct. 22 and said the project is led by Xiangnan Zhong, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science.
The plan links computing resources, simulations and physical robotics experiments that are often separate. FAU says the work will provide shared datasets, digital-twin environments, simulation resources, executable notebooks and examples that researchers, students and educators can use to build and test systems in virtual and real-world settings.
The project will build on infrastructure at FAU’s Center for Connected Autonomy and Artificial Intelligence, including a digital-twin computing platform and networked robotic testbed, according to the university. Planned activities include hands-on labs, mentored research and reusable workflows. The announcement does not identify a project start date, award number, student enrollment target or specific course changes.
Zhong is the principal investigator. FAU lists Erik Engeberg, a professor of ocean and mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering; Zhen Ni, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science; and George Sklivanitis, a research professor in that department, as co-principal investigators.
The university says the effort is meant to strengthen workforce preparation in AI-enabled robotics and cyber-physical systems. It also describes possible applications in healthcare, infrastructure and autonomous systems, but the announcement does not promise particular products or deployment outcomes. The FAU release contains the project description and investigator list.
Photo: Courtesy of Florida Atlantic University. Archival image from 2023; resized and lightly tone-adjusted.
