Carnegie Science Center adds Roboworld to permanent exhibits

Sure, robots have always felt at home in Pittsburgh, well before this weekend's opening of Roboworld, the new permanent exhibit at the Carnegie Science Center, and the new home for the Robot Hall of Fame.

But this is getting ridiculous. Think of the children.

Carnegie Science Center spokesman Mike Marcus recalls an incident a few days ago with the robotic air hockey game in the new Roboworld exhibit.

Kids watching from the floor above were chanting, "Ro-bot! Ro-Bot!"

"They were cheering for the robot, against the person," says Marcus, in amazement.

Clearly, these kids aren't familiar with the "Terminator" films just yet.

They probably weren't aware that the industrial robotic arm that detects your shots and rips them back at you -- only the second of its kind in existence -- has never been beaten.

"You can see the actual data as it's tracking the puck," says Marcus, referring to the numbers scrolling by on a computer screen. "It actually predicts the puck movement three bounces later."

"Obviously, there's a big 'wow' factor, but we want people to see the programming that goes into it," says Kim Amey, Roboworld project manager.

Now doesn't that get your competitive juices flowing• A tabletop air hockey robot that has yet to be beaten. Who's going to step up and represent the humans•

That's not the only test of skill in Roboworld, a $3.5-million new exhibit on the second floor of the Carnegie Science Center, billed as "the world's largest comprehensive robotics exhibition." There's also Hoops, a basketball-shooting industrial arm, of the kind you'd see welding pieces of cars together. Hoops isn't new, but now there's another hoop next to it for humans to test their own free-throw shooting prowess against it.

But most of the exhibits, although highly interactive, are more about demonstrating the basics of robotic operations than proving "you're obsolete, puny human!"

There's Sketchbot, which re-creates images submitted by visitors using 1,600 marbles, by Pittsburgh-based Integrated Industrial Technologies. There's a robotic obstacle course, featuring Cye, a compact robot made by Pittsburgh's Educational Robot Company, which uses a mathematical grid to help chart its way past obstacles to a goal selected by visitors. The public also will be able to watch how an algorithm helps these robots process their environment and change course.

Many of the exhibits showcase products from Pittsburgh's thriving, cutting-edge robotics industry, like Aethon's medical helper-bot "Tug." Contributions from Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh and California University of Pennsylvania also are highlighted and ongoing.

There's a facial recognition robot, a weirdly wonderful robotic art installation that uses boots and a slice of Swiss cheese to create a light projection of walking on the moon, and a number of kiosks demonstrating robotic skills and sensors. Plus, of course, there's the humanoid greeter Andy, jabbering excitedly at passers-by at the entrance.

The Robot Hall of Fame is a major part of the exhibit, after moving from its virtual home at Carnegie Mellon to Roboworld. Along one wall, the ranks of the great robots will grow every year. Currently, the Hall of Fame includes life-size replicas of R2-D2 and C-3PO of "Star Wars" and Hal 9000 from "2001: A Space Odyssey."

A section in the back is divided off for new, cutting-edge robotics demonstrations and workshops, open to area schools and companies.

"Anyone who's making a robot in the community can come in and show it off," Amey says.

Plans for new and modified exhibits already are taking shape.

"That's the thing about a technology exhibit," Marcus says. "The second you open it, something is out of date."

2009

• NASA Mars Rovers Spirit and Opportunity

• iRobot Roomba

• DaVinci Medical Robot System

• * Huey, Dewey, and Louie, from the 1971 film "Silent Running"

• T-800 Terminator, from the 1984 film "The Terminator"

2008

• Raibert Hopper

• NavLab 5

• LEGOA(R) Mindstorms

• Lt. Cmdr. Data from the television show "Star Trek: The Next Generation"

2006

• Sony's AIBO

• SCARA robot arm

• David, from the 2001 Steven Spielberg film "Artificial Intelligence: AI"

• * Maria, from the 1920 German film "Metropolis"

• * Gort, from the 1951 film "The Day the Earth Stood Still"

2004

• Honda's ASIMO humanoid robot

• Stanford Research Institute's Shakey

• Astro Boy, from the comic book and cartoon of the same name

• * Robby, the Robot from the 1956 MGM film "Forbidden Planet"

• * C-3PO from "Star Wars"

2003

• * HAL 9000 from Arthur C. Clarke's "2001: A Space Odyssey"

• NASA's Mars Pathfinder Sojourner Rover

• * R2-D2 from "Star Wars"

• Unimate manufacturing arm

Information on each of the inductees, the jury and the nomination process can be found at www.RobotHallofFame.org .

* Full-scale, museum-quality replica is present in Roboworld

Additional Information:

Roboworld

What: New permanent robotics exhibit

When: Opens Saturday. Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sundays-Fridays; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturdays

Where: Carnegie Science Center, North Side

Admission: $14; $10 for ages 3-12 and senior citizens

Details: 412-237-3400