Robot to Throw Out First Pitch at Phillies Game

Built by Penn's GRASP lab and part of the Philadelphia Science Festival, the robot will lead-off Wednesday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers

PHILADELPHIA, April 20, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being issued by Philadelphia Science Festival:

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110420/DC86604)

WHAT:  Science Day at the Ballpark featuring the debut of PhillieBot, a robot custom-built for the Philadelphia Science Festival that will throw out the first pitch at 12:45 p.m. (prior to the 1:05 p.m. Phillies-Brewers game).

PhillieBot was engineered and built over the last two months with one specific purpose: to throw out the first pitch on April 20. It was a project of the GRASP lab at University of Pennsylvania, which is one of the core collaborators in the inaugural Philadelphia Science Festival. Festival organizers and the Phillies collaborated on developing a "Science Day at the Ballpark" to showcase the physics of baseball and other interesting bits of science and technology that are part of America's favorite pastime.

WHERE:  Field at Citizens Bank Park

WHEN:  Wednesday, April 20 at 12:45 p.m. EDT

WHO:  PhillieBot (most likely not available before/after)

Phillie Phanatic (team mascot)

Engineers from the GRASP lab (available for interviews before/after)

ABOUT PHILLIEBOT

PhillieBot was built for the Philadelphia Science Festival by members of the General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) lab at University of Pennsylvania.

Resting Height: 70 in

Approximate Weight: 230 lbs

Main mobile platform: Segway RMP 200

Head: Tangent robotics sphere-gear pod

Arm: Barrett Technologies WAM arm (Wrist custom manufactured out of aluminum and carbon fiber- pneumatic piston activated)

Build Team:

• Jordan Brindza (Staff-Programmer Analyst) - programming and electronic interfacing
• Jamie Gewirtz (Staff-Research Specialist) - mechanical design, component integration and manufacturing
• Christian Moore (MEAM PhD)- mechanical design and manufacturing
• Vijay Kumar (Deputy Dean for Education) - Oversight and Initial Design
• Rebecca Stein (Associate Director, Research and Educational Outreach) - Oversight

ABOUT THE PHILADELPHIA SCIENCE FESTIVAL

The Philadelphia Science Festival is a citywide collaboration April 15-28 showcasing the impact of science and technology past, present and future. Part of a national movement to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers, the Festival builds on Philadelphia's own rich history of innovation with dozens of free lectures, debates, hands-on activities, special exhibits and other informal learning experiences at museums, libraries and even street corners and concert halls. More than 105 institutions are collaborating to produce the inaugural Festival, which is funded in part by the National Science Foundation, presented by The Dow Chemical Company and organized by The Franklin Institute. To learn more, visit PhilaScienceFestival.org or call 215-448-1128.

NOTES TO EDITORS: Artwork of the Festival is available for download and publication at: http://www.philasciencefestival.org/communicate/press-room.

SOURCE Philadelphia Science Festival