Research Initiation Award: Implementing the Next-Generation IoT Ecosystem with AI Capabilities

Prairie View A & M University, Prairie View TX

Investigators

Abstract

The Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) through Research Initiation Awards provide support for junior and mid-career faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities who are building new research programs or redirecting and rebuilding existing research programs. It is expected that the award helps to further the faculty member's research capability and effectiveness and improve research and teaching at the home institution. This award to Prairie View A & M University supports faculty and student research to re-design and advance the architectures of innovative Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystems by integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance their capabilities and effectiveness in dealing with complex real-world scenarios. This project will perform fundamental research to enable the creative design and implementation of intelligent sensing ecosystem architectures. Specifically, this project will examine key properties of IoT ecosystems, and develop a runtime environment and sensing platform with AI capabilities to better collect, transfer, aggregate and analyze the tremendous amount of sensor data generated daily. There are three main challenges to be addressed by this project: (1) Understanding and representing the fundamental mechanisms underlying IoT ecosystems; (2) Enhancing the programmability and deployment of such systems by using a unified platform that can be rapidly extended and customized for a range of different sensors; and (3) Collecting and analyzing sensor data from different sensors deployed remotely for automated AI-enabled decision-making based on analyzed/observed data. This project will create new opportunities for STEM students at Prairie View A & M University to engage in research, equipping them with interdisciplinary knowledge, thereby enhancing their competitiveness for the STEM workforce. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.