Graphics enhanced version of this site

CREATE: Community Robotics, Education and Technology Empowerment
Head: Illah Nourbakhsh
Contact: Illah Nourbakhsh (illah@ri.cmu.edu)

Mailing address:
Carnegie Mellon University
Robotics Institute
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Location:
NSH A504
(412) 268 6723

Associated center: VASC

For more information, see this lab's homepage.

CREATE brings together our mission in furthering Human-Robot Interaction with our desire to disruptively redefine how communities can make sense of their context through the use of robotic technologies. In our past research, we have demonstrated in isolated pilot projects that technology education does not need to be the province of the few. We have shown that hands-on approaches to learning that use technology as inspirations for wonder and discovery can lead to lifelong learning skills such as teamwork, problem-solving and self-identification with technology as a tool for exploration and personal expression.

The CREATE lab aims to scale up our efforts in order to create self-sustaining communities of learning, expression and technology empowerment. Each project is funded by technology partners and local foundations to demonstrate the creation of sustainable programs that combine technology education with issues and activities that students of all ages care about and therefore have a vested interest in pursuing. As part of this goal we develop new technologies, kits, curricula and evaluation methodologies. Our policy is to open-source and disseminate as much of this material as is practical so that both research and effective use of technology in the formal and informal learning setting can grow as quickly as possible.

Name - Title <Email Address>
• Christopher Bartley - Senior Research Programmer <bartley@cmu.edu>
• [Home] Dennis C Bateman - Project Director <dbateman@cs.cmu.edu>
• [Home] H. Benjamin Brown - Project Scientist <hbb@cs.cmu.edu>
• Emily Hamner - Senior Research Associate <etf@andrew.cmu.edu>
• David M Holstius - Senior Research Programmer <david.holstius@gmail.com>
• [Home] Ian Ingram - Senior Research Associate <ilh+@andrew.cmu.edu>
• Tom Lauwers - PhD Student, RI <tlauwers@andrew.cmu.edu>
• [Home] Illah Nourbakhsh - Associate Professor <illah@ri.cmu.edu>
• [Home] Laura M Tomokiyo - Project Scientist <laura@cs.cmu.edu>

• Educational Robotics - We are developing both physical robots and curriculum that will make educational robotics viable at the middle school and high school levels.
• Global Connection Project - The Global Connection Project develops software tools and technologies to increase the power of images to connect, inform, and inspire people to become engaged and responsible global citizens.
• Gyrover - A Single-Wheel, Gyroscopically stabilized Robot
• Telepresence Robot Kit - To design, create, and disseminate robotics curricula and technologies that motivate young women and men to actively explore science and technology.
• The CMUcam Vision Sensor - We have developed CMUcam - a new low-cost, low-power sensor for mobile robots.
• Toy Robots Initiative - The Toy Robots Initiative aims to commercialize robotics technologies in the educational, toy and entertainment fields.

• Robot Diaries: Broadening Participation in the Computer Science Pipeline through Social Technical Exploration
  E. Hamner, T. Lauwers, D. Bernstein, I. Nourbakhsh, and C.F. DiSalvo
  AAAI Spring Symposium on Using AI to Motivate Greater Participation in Computer Science, March, 2008. [Abstract]
  Download: pdf [293 KB] copyrighted

• CMUcam3: An Open Programmable Embedded Vision Sensor
  A. Rowe, A.G. Goode, D. Goel, and I. Nourbakhsh
  tech. report CMU-RI-TR-07-13, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, May, 2007. [Abstract]
  Download: pdf [275 KB] copyrighted

• TeRK: A Flexible Tool for Science and Technology Education
  I. Nourbakhsh, E. Hamner, T. Lauwers, C.F. DiSalvo, and D. Bernstein
  Proceedings of AAAI Spring Symposium on Robots and Robot Venues: Resources for AI Education, March, 2007. [Abstract]
  Download: pdf [3417 KB] copyrighted

• A Roadmap for Technology Literacy and a Vehicle for Getting There: Educational Robotics and the TeRK Project
  I. Nourbakhsh, E. Hamner, T. Lauwers, D. Bernstein, and C.F. DiSalvo
  Proceedings of IEEE RO-MAN 2006, September, 2006. [Abstract]
  Download: pdf [171 KB] copyrighted

• Educational Results of the Personal Exploration Rover Museum Exhibit
  I. Nourbakhsh, E. Hamner, B. Dunlavey, D. Bernstein, and K. Crowley
  Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA '05), April, 2005, pp. 4278 - 4283. [Abstract]
  Download: pdf [285 KB] copyrighted

• The Design of a Highly Reliable Robot for Unmediated Museum Interaction
  I. Nourbakhsh, E. Hamner, E. Porter, B. Dunlavey, E.M. Ayoob, T. Hsiu, M. Lotter, and S. Shelly
  Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA '05), April, 2005, pp. 3225 - 3231. [Abstract]
  Download: pdf [406 KB] copyrighted

• Interaction Challenges in Human-Robot Space Exploration
  T.W. Fong and I. Nourbakhsh
  Interactions, Vol. 12, No. 2, March, 2005, pp. 42-45. [Abstract]
  Download: pdf [557 KB] copyrighted

• Up Close and Personal from Mars
  E. Hamner, M. Lotter, I. Nourbakhsh, and S. Shelly
  interactions, Vol. 12, No. 2, March, 2005, pp. 30 - 36.
  Download: pdf [650 KB] copyrighted

• The Personal Exploration Rover: The Ground-up Design, Deployment and Educational Evaluation of an Educational Robot for Unmediated Informal Learning Sites
  I. Nourbakhsh, E. Hamner, D. Bernstein, K. Crowley, E. Porter, T. Hsiu, B. Dunlavey, E.M. Ayoob, M. Lotter, S. Shelly, A. Parikh, and D. Clancy
  tech. report CMU-RI-TR-04-38, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, December, 2004. [Abstract]
  Download: pdf [755 KB] copyrighted

• Formal measures of learning in a secondary school mobile robotics course
  I. Nourbakhsh, E. Hamner, K. Crowley, and K. Wilkinson
  Proceedings of the 2004 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA '04), Vol. 2, April, 2004, pp. 1831 - 1836. [Abstract]
  Download: pdf [542 KB] copyrighted