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Adults and kids in Hong Kong can explore the biomechanics of complex animal robots to discover real animals' survival secrets, at the Robot Zoo exhibition at the Science Museum.
The Robot Zoo exhibition is a popular travelling children's exhibit which has been staged in the US, Canada, Mexico, Singapore and Taiwan.
Eight larger-than-life-size animated robots are on display. They include a chameleon with video screens covering its body, a rhino with a detachable head, a giant squid with 18-foot tentacles, a platypus wearing goggles, a house fly with a 10-foot wingspread, a 9-foot-long grasshopper, a bat equipped with a loudspeaker and a giraffe whose head and neck alone stretch 9 feet tall.
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Creature teachers: Giant robot animals including a house fly, a chameleon and a rhinoceros are on display at the Science Museum until October 25. |
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Science Museum Assistant Curator Eddie Ng told news.gov.hk this exhibition originated from a children's pictorial book called The Robot Zoo. Its aims to reveal the magic of nature as a master engineer by showing animals' structures and explaining how they work.
Animals recognised as complex machines
Mr Ng said animals can be recognised as complex machines equipped with tools for survival as they have adapted to the environment by having sophisticated systems for moving, eating and other vital functions.
"Unlike other robot displays which usually focus on technology and robots' appearance, this one helps visitors relate each mechanic part of the robots to a specific organ or structure of the real animals."
Machinery in the robot animals simulates the body parts of their real-life counterparts. In the robot animals, muscles become pistons, intestines become filtering pipes and brains become computers.
Visitors can not only observe the exhibits, they can also manipulate them. For example, they can trigger a joystick to move the robot chameleon's eyes, tongue and head. They can even change the robot's body colour by pressing different buttons.
Interactive games dazzle youngsters
Apart from the robots, more than a dozen interactive games have also been set up to illustrate fascinating real-life characteristics of animals.
In the game called "Tongue Gun", people can trigger a joystick on the model of a robot chameleon's head to fire a long tongue at insect targets. It shows how the reptile catches its food.
People can blend into their surroundings like a chameleon does in the game called "Hide and Seek". Wearing a coat that matches the background, people can watch themselves appear and disappear on a video monitor.
The Swat the Fly activity tests participants' reaction time. Visitors can use their hands to "swat" each fly as it lights up.
Kids wearing special hand and knee pads can try to stick like house flies onto a slanted surface. Meanwhile, the Tortoise Track allows kids to try on a tortoise shell and see how it feels to "race" like a turtle around a track.
Related activities prolong the fun
To tie in with the exhibition, a series of activities have been organised.
A Dynamic Robot DIY teachers' Workshop, jointly launched by the museum and the Hong Kong Robotic Olympic Association, aims to teach participants how to make a simple moveable robot. For details, click here.
Teens are invited to join the Robot Animal Design Competition which encourages primary and secondary students to develop robot animals by applying their technological knowledge. The application deadline is July 16. For enquiries call 2732 3224 or click here.
The Robot Zoo exhibition runs until October 25. If you are a fan of robots, or animals, or both, be sure to visit the Science Museum with your family and friends. For exhibition details, click here or call 2732 3232.
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