‘The Robot Zoo’ Coming to Grand Rapids Public Museum

Grand Rapids Public Museum has announced that a new exhibition called The Robot Zoo will open in March.

The traveling exhibit is based on the book The Robot Zoo and allows visitors to explore the biomechanics of complex animal robots to discover how real animals work.

Eight robot animals and more than a dozen hands-on activities help kids learn many things including how a chameleon changes colors, a giant squid propels itself and a fly walks on the ceiling.

The 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.

Machinery in the robot animals simulate body parts; muscles become pistons, intestines become filtering pipes and brains become computers. Animation in the robots imitates real-life behaviors.

The Robot Zoo will open at Grand Rapids Public Museum on Saturday, March 19, 2016.