Glad the Robot Hall of Fame is back in business

I love robots and halls of fame. So I was pleased to find out earlier this month that the Robot Hall of Fame has resumed operations after a two-year hiatus.
Created by Carnegie Mellon University in 2003, the Robot Hall of Fame honors real-world robots from science and industry and fictional robots from pop culture. The hall has a physical presence at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh.
The hall will induct two sets of robots at a ceremony in October.
The first group was selected in 2009, but was never inducted. That group includes NASA’s Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, iRobot’s Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner, and Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci Surgical System. It also includes the T-800 Terminator from the sci-fi movie “The Terminator” (1984) and the charming maintenance robots Huey, Dewey and Louie from the sci-fi film “Silent Running” (1971).
The second set of robots to be inducted will be chosen in an online vote later this summer from nominees selected by an expert panel of jurors. They will be announced at the Oct. 23 ceremony at the Carnegie Science Center.
While I’m a fan of all robots, I’m particularly interested in space exploration robots and robots from movies and TV shows.
When I was a kid I closely followed the Mars Viking lander missions and loved the character “Robot” on the TV show “Lost in Space.” Neither of those robots has been selected yet. But now that the Robot Hall of Fame is back in business, it’s possible.

Related story:
Roomba, Terminator Finally To Enter Robot Shrine (Investors.com; July 13, 2012)

Photo: Robot B-9 from “Lost in Space” (Photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Halls of fame update: Tech, toys, robots, rock and roll, and hip hop music

Lots of goings-on with halls of fame lately.
As a fan of the concept, I track news associated with halls of fame, especially those involving entertainment and technology.
Here’s a summary of the activity:

IT Hall of Fame

Information technology trade group CompTIA is starting the IT Hall of Fame to honor the industry’s top business leaders and innovators.
The new virtual shrine will build on the legacy of an earlier hall of fame established by industry publication CRN, CompTIA said today.
Honorees from the CRN Industry Hall of Fame will be grandfathered into CompTIA’s new IT Hall of Fame, according to IBD’s tech blog Click. They include Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer of Microsoft, William Hewlett and Dave Packard of Hewlett-Packard, Steve Jobs of Apple, and Andy Grove of Intel.
CRN hasn’t chosen any new inductees for its Industry Hall of Fame since 2007.
At the very least, CompTIA needs to create a website that provides details on all the honorees and their accomplishments. CRN doesn’t have one.

National Toy Hall of Fame

The National Toy Hall of Fame at the Strong museum in Rochester, N.Y., on Nov. 4 inducted two new toys – playing cards and Hasbro’s The Game of Life board game.
The two honorees were selected from among 12 toy finalists that included: Cabbage Patch Kids, chess, dollhouse, dominoes, Dungeons & Dragons, Hot Wheels, Lite Brite, Magic 8 Ball, pogo stick, and Rubik’s Cube.

Robot Hall of Fame

The Robot Hall of Fame was supposed to induct two fictional robots and three real robots this year. But organizers canceled the induction ceremony because of a lack of funding, according to IBD’s tech blog Click.
The 2010 class of inductees was to include the T-800 Terminator, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1984 movie “The Terminator,” and Huey, Dewey and Louie from the 1971 science-fiction film “Silent Running.”
The real-world robots honored were the DaVinci Medical Robot System from Intuitive Surgical, the Roomba vacuum cleaner from iRobot, and NASA’s Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity.
The Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science created the Robot Hall of Fame in 2003 to honor both real-world robotic achievements and fictional robots that have inspired countless scientists.
Inductees are enshrined at a permanent robotics exhibit called Roboworld at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will announce its 2011 inductees on Dec. 15.
Fifteen nominees are in the running this year including Alice Cooper, Beastie Boys, Bon Jovi, Neil Diamond, J. Geils Band and Tom Waits. The winners will be enshrined at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.

Hip Hop Hall of Fame

The Hip Hop Hall of Fame Awards is teaming with Hip Hop Pioneers to relaunch the Official Hip Hop Hall of Fame Awards Induction Ceremony & Concert Television Show.
The show is scheduled for taping on April 28. It will be the first broadcast of the Hip Hop Hall of Fame Awards Show since it aired in national syndication and on the BET Cable Network in the ’90s.
Organizers also are hoping to build a Hip Hop Hall of Fame museum in New York City.

Terminator, Roomba in Robot Hall of Fame

The Robot Hall of Fame has chosen the T-800 Terminator from the 1984 film “The Terminator” and iRobot’s Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner for its latest class of inductees.
The other members of the class of 2010 are NASA’s Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity; Intuitive Surgical’s DaVinci Medical Robot System; and Huey, Dewey, and Louie from the 1971 film “Silent Running.” Check out the press release here.
Carnegie Science Center and Carnegie Mellon University announced the inductees Tuesday at a press preview of Roboworld, the Pittsburgh science center’s new robotics exhibition opening June 13. Roboworld will be the permanent home for the Robot Hall of Fame. The hall honors both real world robots and fictional robots.
The five inductees (actually eight, but who’s counting) are all fine choices. For the second year in a row, real robots outnumber the fictional ones among the selections. That’s a testament to the maturation of the robotics industry.
My only complaint is that the group won’t be formally inducted until a ceremony next year. So, the Robot Hall of Fame is skipping a year of inductees. The last three classes of inductees have been done every two years. As a robot enthusiast, that’s disappointing to me. There are enough interesting robots to be inducted annually. Hopefully with the Roboworld exhibit opening, inductions will take place on a yearly basis after next year.