Robot Capital of America

by jordan | July 10, 2008 at 01:18 pm | 130 views | 2 comments

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Finally, a city that's getting with the whole 21st-Century thing: touting your city as most-liveable for humans is so played out... now, it's all about how robot-friendly your city is. Pitssburgh is laying claim to Robot Capital of America, in terms of early adoption, research and development, and sheer robo-numbers.

Personally, I love the idea of a "robot hall of fame". I nominate V.I.N.CENT.

There has long been a rivalry between Boston and Pittsburgh as to which city is the tech leader in robotics. Both cities have academic and private research centers, as well as major companies, heavily involved in the robotics industry.

But in recent years, Pittsburgh has been playing up its ties to robotics through a series of public announcements, events, and community projects.

On the site for its 250th anniversary, Pittsburgh proudly states that the first robot was created in the Pittsburgh region, as well as the first polio vaccine and the first advanced organ transplantation.

The city played host to the RoboCup American Open in 2003, the preliminary U.S. play-off to the annual global soccer tournament played by robots.

In Spring 2009, due in large part to CMU, Pittsburgh is about to become the permanent home of the Robot Hall of Fame, which honors robots from both real life and science fiction.

And this year, as part of the city's 250th anniversary celebration, the University of Pittsburgh, CMU, and several area foundations, including the Heinz Foundation, are sponsoring Robot 250, a festival of the usual arts and culture with a robotic twist.