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Tom Lauwers
PhD Student
Email address: tlauwers@andrew.cmu.edu
Office: NSH A504
Phone: (412) 268-6723
Mailing address:
Carnegie Mellon University
Robotics Institute
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
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Research interests |
Keywords |
Labs & groups |
Projects |
Publications
Research interests
My work focuses on using applications of robotic technologies to positively impact motivation and learning in science and technology education. I am pursuing a methodology for an integrative design which incorporates not just the constraints of cost and technology, but also considers the needs of curricula and educators. I believe that to develop effective educational technologies, one must first identify the key concepts taught in the course for which the technology is being developed, and then map those concepts to interactions that can be provided by technology. By doing so, one can use the existing curriculum to feed into the design decisions for which technological features to include or dismiss.
I am involved with several projects in which I hope to elaborate on the above method and create examples of how such a method can be applied to real-world classroom situations to enhance technology design and, hopefully, students' conceptual learning.
Research interest keywords
control, curriculum development, design, education, entertainment robotics, human-robot interaction, mobile robots, robotics art, and sensors
Current Labs & Groups [Past labs]
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CREATE: Community Robotics, Education and Technology Empowerment - 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.
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TechBridgeWorld - TechBridgeWorld innovates and implements technology solutions to meet sustainable development needs around the world.
Current Projects [Past projects]
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Educational Robotics - We are developing both physical robots and curriculum that will make educational robotics viable at the middle school and high school levels.
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Telepresence Robot Kit - To design, create, and disseminate robotics curricula and technologies that motivate young women and men to actively explore science and technology.
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Toy Robots Initiative - The Toy Robots Initiative aims to commercialize robotics technologies in the educational, toy and entertainment fields.
Publications
Note: This list may not be comprehensive. It contains only those publications in the RI publications database. Entries are listed in reverse chronological order.
- Robot Diaries Interim Project Report: Development of a Technology Program for Middle School Girls
E. Hamner, T. Lauwers, D. Bernstein, K. Stubbs, K. Crowley, and I. Nourbakhsh
tech. report CMU-RI-TR-08-25, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, May, 2008.
[Abstract]
Download: pdf [1691 KB] copyrighted
- 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
- Iterative Design of A Braille Writing Tutor to Combat Illiteracy
N. Kalra, T. Lauwers, D. Dewey, T. Stepleton, and M.B. Dias
Proceedings of the 2nd IEEE/ACM International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development, December, 2007.
[Abstract]
Download: pdf [1875 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 Braille Writing Tutor to Combat Illiteracy in Developing Communities
N. Kalra, T. Lauwers, and M.B. Dias
AI in ICT for Development Workshop, International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, January, 2007.
[Abstract]
Download: pdf [1074 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
- A Dynamically Stable Single-Wheeled Mobile Robot with Inverse Mouse-Ball Drive
T. Lauwers, G.A. Kantor, and R. Hollis
Proceedings of the 2006 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA '06), May, 2006, pp. 2884 - 2889.
[Abstract]
Download: pdf [931 KB] copyrighted
- One is Enough!
T. Lauwers, G.A. Kantor, and R. Hollis
Proc. Int'l. Symp. for Robotics Research, October, 2005.
[Abstract]
Download: pdf [487 KB] copyrighted
- Free-roaming planar motors: toward autonomous precision planar mobile robots
T. Lauwers, Z.K. Edmondson, and R. Hollis
Proceedings of the 2004 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA '04), Vol. 5, May, 2004, pp. 4498 - 4503.
[Abstract]
Download: pdf [909 KB] copyrighted
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