THE ROBOT ZOO
May 27 through September 4, 2023

Have you ever wondered how a fly walks on the ceiling, how a chameleon changes colors, or how a giant squid jets around in the ocean? Come learn about this and more at the Robot Zoo exhibition at The Museum this summer!

Robot Zoo reveals the magic of nature as a master engineer. Eight robot animals and more than a dozen hands-on activities illustrate fascinating real-life characteristics, such as how a chameleon changes colors, a giant squid propels itself, and a fly walks on the ceiling.

The larger-than-life-size animated robots include a chameleon, a rhinoceros, a giant squid with 18-foot tentacles and a platypus. Also featured are a house-fly with a 10-foot wingspread, a grasshopper, a bat and a giraffe whose head and neck alone stretch 9 feet tall.

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.

Other sensory activities include “Swat the Fly,” a test of the visitor’s reaction time (one-twelfth as fast as a house-fly’s), and “Sticky Feet,” where visitors wearing special hand and knee pads can try to stick like flies to a sloped surface. Triggering the “Tongue Gun” demonstrates how a real chameleon shoots out its long, sticky-tipped tongue to reel in a meal.

Animation in the robots imitates real-life behaviors. The robot chameleon rocks back and forth, as it turns its head, looks around and fires its tongue at its insect prey. The front legs of the platypus swim in breaststroke style while the tail moves up and down. The tentacles of the giant squid grip a struggling fish, while the squid’s beak-like mouth opens to reveal a spinning food grinder.

The exhibit comes to RPM from Evergreen Exhibitions and is based on the book The Robot Zoo which was conceived, edited and designed by Marshall Editions of London, England.