Pittsburgh Museum to Unveil $3.4M Robot Exhibition

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Robots are massing at a city museum.

The Carnegie Science Center announced plans Wednesday to open a robotics exhibition next spring that it believes will be the largest and most comprehensive of its kind nationwide.

The $3.4 million exhibition, called roboworld, will encompass an array of mechanized devices, including an industrial welder that's been modified to pick up basketballs and shoot them through a hoop.

The permanent display -- similar to a traveling exhibition that's been on the road since 1996 -- will emphasize three aspects of artificial robotic behavior: sensing, thinking and acting. It will also pay homage to portrayals of robots in popular culture.

The announcement comes as hundreds of robotics professionals meet at a two-day conference, RoboBusiness, at a Pittsburgh convention center.

The exhibition will capitalize on the work of regional universities, corporations and startup companies that have developed a strong international reputation in the robotics industry, said Joanna Haas, the museum's director.

Haas said the museum hopes the exhibition will help encourage young people to pursue careers in science, math and technology, among other fields related to robotics.

At a news conference, Anthony Daniels, a British actor who played C-3PO in all six "Star Wars" movies, read a statement on behalf of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl declaring April 9, 2008, "Carnegie Science Center Robot Day."

He also said the world needed more scientists.

"My father was a scientist -- I was a disappointment," Daniels joked. "We need hands-on, real scientists."

On Wednesday evening, Carnegie Mellon University planned to induct four robots -- both real and fictional -- into its Robot Hall of Fame. They include the Raibert Hopper, NavLab5, LEGO Mindstorms and the fictional Lt. Cmdr. Data of "Star Trek" fame.

Past inductees have included R2-D2 and C-3PO from "Star Wars," Honda's ASIMO humanoid robot, NASA's Mars Sojourner and HAL 9000 from Arthur C. Clarke's "2001: A Space Odyssey."

The Hall of Fame robots will become part of the Carnegie Science Center exhibition.