The (Robot) Class of 2012: Photos from the Robot Hall of Fame® Induction Ceremony
The Robot Hall of Fame® inducted robots from its 2010 and 2012 classes at a gala ceremony Oct. 23 at the Carnegie Science Center before a full house in the Bayer Science Stage. Bill Flanagan, former KDKA reporter and now executive vice president of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development served as emcee for the ceremony. The 2012 inductees were the first to be chosen based on a public, online vote; more than 17,000 people worldwide participated. View the Slideshow »
Robot Hall of Fame® Inducts NAO, PackBot, BigDog and WALL-E
More Than 17,000 People Voted Online To Select Winners
PITTSBURGH—The Robot Hall of Fame® inducted four robots chosen for the first time by a popular vote — Aldebaran Robotics' NAO humanoid, iRobot's PackBot bomb disposal robot, Boston Dynamics' four-legged BigDog and WALL-E, the fictional robot of the namesake Pixar movie — during a ceremony tonight at Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh.
"More than any previous class of inductees, this group of robots selected by popular vote represents contemporary robotics — robots at the cutting edge of technology — rather than older robots of strictly historical importance," said Shirley Saldamarco, Robot Hall of Fame director and a faculty member at Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center. "Two of our inductees, NAO and Packbot, are commercially available and BigDog is still the focus of active research. Even our fictional honoree, WALL-E, is from a movie that's just four years old." Read More »
Join Us for the 2012 Induction Ceremony, October 23 at Carnegie Science Center
The 2012 RHoF inductees will be celebrated on Tuesday, October 23 at 6:30pm, at Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh.
In addition to inducting the newly elected robots, the ceremony also will honor five jury-selected robots from the 2010 induction class: NASA Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity, iRobot’s Roomba vacuum cleaner, the da Vinci Surgical System, the characters Huey, Dewey, and Louie from the 1971 film “Silent Running,” and T-800, the character played by actor Arnold Schwarzenegger in “The Terminator” film series.
The ceremony is open to the public. For ticket information, please visit http://rhof.eventbrite.com
Voting for the 2012 Robot Hall of Fame is now closed
Thank you to all who cast their vote for the 2012 Robot Hall of Fame nominees! Over 17,000 votes were collected and the winners will be announced live on October 23, at the Robot Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, PA. For tickets to the ceremony and more information, please visit our event page.
Welcome to the Robot Hall of Fame
The Robot Hall of Fame recognizes excellence in robotics technology worldwide and honors the fictional and real robots that have inspired and made breakthrough accomplishments in robotics. The Robot Hall of Fame was created by Carnegie Mellon University in April 2003 to call attention to the increasing contributions of robots to society.
The Robot Hall of Fame® is sponsored by:
