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Robots Swarm Museum of Science and Industry in New Exhibit

By Sam Cholke | May 22, 2015 6:28am
 Baxter is happy to challenge visitors to a game of tic-tac-toe.
Baxter is happy to challenge visitors to a game of tic-tac-toe.
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DNAinfo/Sam Cholke

HYDE PARK — A set of robotic arms on Thursday cut the ribbon the Museum of Science and Industry’s new exhibit.

Baxter, a sleepy-eyed robot, sliced through the ribbon before challenging grade-schoolers to tic-tac-toe at “Robot Revolution,” a new temporary exhibit opening Friday and running through January.

The museum, 5700 S. Lake Shore Drive, has brought together an impressive collection of more than 20 full-size robots and a host of robotic hands, grippers and other appendages.

“No one’s ever done this before because of the difficulty,” said Kathleen McCarthy, director of collections and head curator at the museum.

She said robots require a lot of maintenance, which has stymied other attempts at running all-day exhibits. McCarthy said the museum has solved the problem by making the “robot garage” part of the exhibit, where visitors can watch the robots be repaired and replaced by trained technicians.

MSI Robot Revolution
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DNAinfo/Sam Cholke

The machines are run through their paces. Motorman spends all day dealing playing cards with its spinning suction cups hands challenging visitors to a game of 21. Thes can be sent endlessly crawling through pipes. And the Fanuc Delta robot spends mindless hours sorting pill-size pellets by color at lightning speed.

Throughout the exhibit, the cheerful face of Dennis Hong pops up on video screens to explain why each robot’s skill is unique and important to the advancement of the technology.

Hong is the founder of the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory at the University of California at Los Angeles, and would suddenly appear in person next to his video persona on Thursday to add an extra snippet or enthusiastically start explaining the next wave of robotics to surprised visitors.

“This is the robot I’m most proud of, it’s like my robot son,” Hong said, standing next to Robotis-OP, which he affectionately calls Darwin in his lab.

Robotic designer Dennis Hong shows off his favorite robot, Robotis-OP.

Hong unleashes teams of three of the little robots for soccer games in competitions, and visitors can make a miniature version do flips and dance moves. He beamed as he explained that all the plans and software required to build and operate the robot are completely free and open for anyone to use.

Hong’s other robot in the exhibit is Charli, a lean man-sized robot he is developing to challenge professional soccer players to a match.

He admitted Charli wasn’t ready quite yet for the World Cup. Then he gave a couple sidelong glances and unlocked his phone to show a picture of a robot that has a physique more like a Marine.

This is Thor, he explained, a robot still in the lab being developed for a competition run by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in the U.S. Department of Defense.

To win the competition, Thor will need to drive a car, get out, make its way across rough terrain, cut a hole in a wall, connect a hose and turn on a valve. The goal is to speed the development of a robot that can respond during disasters and go where it is too dangerous for humans, like a nuclear reactor that’s in meltdown.

Though it’s easy to picture Thor converted into a soulless warrior, Hong said there is nothing to fear from robots and he’s participating in the exhibit specifically to show that.

 The museum will open the largest exhibit with fully operating robots in the world on Friday.
MSI Robot Revolution
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“That’s all Hollywood,” Hong said. “Hollywood always casts robots as villains.”

He said he wants visitors to be inspired by what robotics can now accomplish and be inspired by how robots can be compatible in our lives and in the workplace, rather than seen as there just to take away jobs.

The exhibit runs through January and requires and extra timed ticket, which is $11 for adults and $9 for children.

Visitors can test out how different grippers grasp objects.

The exhibit features more than 20 robots and a host of grippers, hands and other appendages.

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