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Sabbatical Proposal - Overview

Expanding Capabilities by Learning the Robot Operating System (ROS) for Software Engineering Research

Erik Fredericks, frederer@gvsu.edu

Fredericks Sabbatical Proposal Overview | 09/23/2025
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Sabbatical: Fall 2026 - Winter 2027

Why?

  • Gain experience with the Robot Operating System (ROS) and its simuator Gazebo for software engineering research and developing educational modules

  • Existing experience with lightweight simulators

    • Not very realistic!

  • ROS is often considered to be painful but far more realistic

Fredericks Sabbatical Proposal Overview | 09/23/2025
Winter 2026 Fall 2026 Winter 2027
Pre-planning OER learning module development Research project (minimizing uncertainty for ROS-based systems)
ROS/Gazebo setup Conversion of existing project to ROS Grant writing (NSF SHF Future CoRe, AFRL Foundations of Trusted Systems, US Naval Research Laboratory Basic/Applied Research)
Discussions with B. Cheng OER dissemination Research dissemination

OER materials: enable students (either research or in-classroom) to quickly get up and running with robotics simulations

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Post-sabbatical

  • Develop SE/AI-focused robotics course
  • Disseminate remaining work
  • Present outcomes to GVSU
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