ROBOTS + US - A WORLD OF FUTURISTIC FUN
New Exhibition at Great Lakes Science Center
allows guests to touch and explore the amazing world of Robots

September 12th, 2008

Cleveland (Sept. 12, 2008) – Discover a place where humans meet machines in this fun and educational journey to the world of artificial intelligence. On September 27, guests of Great Lakes Science Center will have the opportunity to take a playful look at what machines and humans are learning from each other and see how biology and engineering are coming together to close the gap between reality and our robot dreams. More than 24 interactive exhibits provide hands-on opportunities to see, touch and explore the amazing world of robots. Robots + Us is a light-hearted, hands-on exhibition that will delight families and children of all ages. The exhibit will run until April 26, 2009.

Robots + Us encourages Great Lakes Science Center’s visitors of all ages to compare sci-fi fantasies of robots with today’s technical realities and to explore why it’s so hard to build robots to be like humans. It provides all sorts of hands-on opportunities to explore how building artificial life can teach us about the real thing.

• Visit Low Life Lab and find out what robot designers are learning from ants, cockroaches and other simple forms of life.

• Step up to the exhibit’s Robot Arena, the home of different “species” of light-sensitive mobile robots, and watch the impact that beams of light and other obstacles have on the paths they take from point to point.

• Meet Jeremiah, a giant-sized, computer-generated character, and discover the factors that influence his mood.
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• Visit the Garden of Sensory Delights and use your body to control the motion of its wacky robotic flowers.

• Experiment with walking machines in the Robot Leg Lab and learn how simple changes in their anatomy can affect how they walk, run, and handle obstacles.

• Learn how a computer can be programmed to recognize the features of the human face, and then try to trick it by disguising your own face with a fake moustache or a goofy mask.

• Build your own jitterbug robot using some simple materials and your own creativity. You’ll see that the slightest variations in leg shape or body weight will make your jitterbug dance differently from all the rest.

Admission
Robots + Us will run at the Great Lakes Science Center through April 26, 2009. Admission to the exhibition is free to Great Lakes Science Center members. Exhibition entry is $12.50 for adult non-members and $10.50 for children, and includes museum exhibits admission.

Special Programs
While the exhibit is in Cleveland, The Great Lakes Science Center has developed some special programs that will interest everyone and show the impact that robots have on our daily living.

Robots and Medicine
Doctors use tiny robots to examine our bodies in less invasive ways. Visit the BioMed Tech galleries to see some of these exciting medical helpers and try your hand at micro-surgery.

Robots and Law Enforcement
Sunday, March 22, 2 p.m.
Police use robots to go into unsafe places and diffuse different dangerous objects. Watch the Cleveland Police Bomb Squad demonstrate the Andros 6A bomb-diffusing robot.

Robots and Movement
Biologists and engineers work together to create robots whose movements mimic those of living creatures. Meet students from Case Western Reserve University and watch demos of the robot insects they’ve created.

Robots and Family Fun WowWee Robots make you laugh, keep you company and play with you. Interact with a dinosaurs, puppy dog, fairies, panda, dragonflies that are cutting-edge robotic fun for the entire family.

Win a Robot
Enter to win your very own Robot from WowWee. A different winner will be selected twice a month from October-April. Details are available at GreatScience.com.

Robots + Us Sponsorship
In Cleveland, Robots + Us is sponsored by Medical Mutual of Ohio, Ohio Lottery and Rockwell Automation. Robots + Us was produced by the Science Museum of Minnesota. The exhibit was made possible with funds provided by the National Science
Foundation.

About the Great Lakes Science Center
The Great Lakes Science Center is one of the nation’s leading science and technology centers, featuring more than 400 signature hands-on exhibits, themed traveling exhibitions, daily demonstrations, the awe-inspiring OMNIMAX® Theater and the Steamship William G. Mather.

The Great Lakes Science Center is open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with discounted parking for guests in the attached 500-car garage. For more information, contact the Great Lakes Science Center at 216-694-2000 or visit www.GreatScience.com

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