Robots and Thought
The 25th Anniversary Celebration
Of The Robotics Institute, at Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University will celebrate the 25th anniversary of its world-famous Robotics Institute with an exciting, thought-provoking, robotics extravaganza that will take place October 11 - 14, 2004. The four-day, public, interactive event will provide a forum for the research, educational and business communities to explore and discuss the impact and future of robotics.

The event begins Monday evening with the second annual Robot Hall of Fame induction ceremony and concludes Thursday night with a concert by Laurie Anderson, NASA's first ever artist in residence who incorporates robotics and leading edge technology into her art and concerts. The celebration will feature a symposium of world-renowned robotics experts discussing the “grand challenges” in the field and a rare opportunity to hear the Institute founders — Raj Reddy, Tom Murrin and Angel Jordan discuss the evolution of the Institute and robotics over the last 25 years.

Monday, Oct. 11 (6:00 PM) — The second annual Robot Hall of Fame^TM induction ceremony to honor ASIMO, ASTRO BOY, C-3PO, Robby, the Robot, and Shakey. The Robot Hall of Fame was established by Carnegie Mellon in 2003 to honor noteworthy robots, both real and fictional, along with their creators.

Tuesday, Oct. 12 — The public is invited to explore robotics through a series of seminars, demonstrations and art exhibits enabling interaction with ground-breaking software and technology. Learn how the power of robotics is being harnessed as an educational tool at the educational technology demonstrations and student robot competition. Industry representatives are invited to attend a special Robotics Institute to Business session where robotics faculty will provide briefings on their research.

Wednesday, Oct. 13 — Robotics experts from around the world will gather at a symposium to explore the future of robotics and discuss the challenges of creating a positive, fruitful coexistence between robots and humans. Institute founders will participate in a retrospective panel. A private viewing of the 54th Carnegie International (the premier North American showcase for the best new art and new artists from around the globe) will precede dinner.

Thursday, Oct. 14 — See displays of cutting-edge technology and demonstrations that detail the impact and future of robotics. The public is invited to attend a special concert featuring Laurie Anderson (NASA's first artist in residence) who fuses technology and art in her performances. Pittsburgh will be a premier site for Ms. Anderson's latest work. Tickets may be purchased online or by calling (412) 471 6930.

Please join us as we honor our history, explore the present, and envision the future of robotics!

Twenty-five years ago Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute opened its doors with the dream of ushering in a new age of thinking robots. During the ensuing two and one-half decades, we have experienced many research successes in intelligent manufacturing, autonomous vehicles, space-related robots, medical robotics, nano-machines and anthropomorphic robots. There is much to celebrate!

But what is a celebration of robotics, if it does not include a look into the future? This celebration will lay out the "grand challenges" that remain before us and refocus our attention on the hurdles we must overcome to achieve our dreams. For example, the questions of how to build truly intelligent machines, how to provide untethered power, and how to conquer the limits imposed by scale (eg., nano-machines to mega-machines) remain before us.

This celebration is unique because it will demand that every participant also consider how the dawning age of robotics will impact humanity. This is the most critical grand challenge: to create a positive, fruitful coexistence of robots with humans.

In 1963, a book titled Computers and Thought asked some of these same questions about the advent and impact of computers upon humanity. Looking back, one can only marvel at how much computers have changed our lives in a very short time! Their impact is comparable to the invention of the wheel, the printing press, the discovery of electricity and nuclear power. We can only imagine how autonomous machines that sense, think and act will continue to change our world.

In 1979, Carnegie Mellon Professors Raj Reddy and Angel Jordan and Westinghouse Electric Corp. President Tom Murrin agreed to open the Robotics Institute with the goal of making it the best place on the planet to do robotics research. By 2004, their efforts, powered by Carnegie Mellon's faculty, staff, and students, have arguably reached this lofty goal.

In this spirit, the Robotics Institute's 25th anniversary celebration will be a party as well as a deep reflection on the shape of our shared future with robots. Come and join us in this celebration.