Exhibition at the Technical Museum: FIT robots watch theatre and explore collaboration with humans

An interactive exhibition on robotics was prepared by the Technical Museum in Brno for the 100th anniversary of the first edition of Karel Čapek's drama R. U. R., in which the author first made use of the new word robot'. The exhibition presents the importance of robotics in industry, science and technology, as well as in culture and art. Visitors will also find robots from FIT among the one hundred exhibits.

The main exhibition space on the third floor of the museum has been transformed into a laboratory, which shows the results of mutual cooperation between the museum and individual faculties of BUT on an area of more than 600 m2. Visitors will also find an exhibit of L&K Robotics - a start-up from the Faculty of Information Technology, which manufactures semi-professional robots.

"They bring Čapek's vision of available universal machines from R.U.R. closer to reality. When Karel Čapek imagined robots one hundred years ago, it was an affordable and versatile machine that performs any kind of labour. Since the time of Karel Čapek, technology has advanced at an incredible pace. In the digital age, everyone has a computer with an internet connection. So far, we only encounter robots in factories and warehouses, but they do not help us at home yet," explains Martin Kolář, a researcher from FIT who participated in the development of the robot.

"Our exhibit at the Technical Museum shows how a robot can tirelessly repeat any task. You can also see how a robot with a camera observes Čapek's play in which it was created, and think about the possibilities and implications of expanding artificial intelligence," he adds.

In the museum, researchers from FIT have also created experimental workplaces. They explore how humans and robots can work closely and effectively together, using augmented reality and a touch surface. "Thanks to this, anyone can easily and intuitively control the robot and cooperate with it, for example when programming object manipulation," explained Michal Kapinus, one of the authors of the exhibit, which you will find in the technical game room.

One of the main exhibits of the exhibition also comes from BUT - among other things, robots of the humanoid type, which will lead a so-called century-old dialogue together. "One of the robots will come from the time of Čapek's R. U. R., while the other will represent the present and modern technologies. In a joint dialogue, he will explain the main milestones that robotics have passed over the last one hundred years," explains Luděk Žalud from FEEC.

There will also be various robotic toys, robots intended for home and rescue operations and a replica of Arnold Schwarzenegger's endoskeleton from the film The Terminator, with the actor's signature. Visitors can also look forward to seeing Master Kresbot. While they wait, he will conjure an original cartoon portrait for them, which they will be able to take home as a souvenir.

The exhibition, which started this week, is intended for the general public, children and robotics experts, and should last until 31 May 2021. However, it is not yet entirely clear whether it will be possible to present all the interactive exhibits in full operation by the end of this year. This is due to hygienic measures that suspended the interactive parts of the museum exhibits in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. More information can be found on the ROBOT2020 exhibition website.

• photo: photo archive of the Technical Museum in Brno, L&K Robotics and FIT BUT