Riveting Robots

For over a decade, Science City at Union Station has been partnering with architects Burns & McDonnell to develop exhibits with local Kansas City K-12 STEM students. The competition, “Battle of the Brains,” was created to help inspire, support, and mentor the next generation of STEM leaders. The “Battle of the Brains” exhibits cover over 100,000 square feet of Science City.

This year’s winner, Raytown Challenge Gifted Program, designed a 2,800 square foot robot-themed exhibit Riveting Robots with creative support from Burns & McDonnell. The exhibit is made up of eight different spaces, each with interactives developed by Ravenswood Studio. Visitors engage with robots, giving them the chance to build and code, see lidar sensors in action, race a robot, and learn about different tasks robots can complete that are often too difficult or dangerous for humans.

The interactives developed by Ravenswood Studio range from mechanical to digital using our Graybox Technology. Several rounds of prototyping and testing were done to ensure each interactive could inspire visitors to “battle with the bots,” but not discourage play by being too challenging. Major interactives include a life size Operation game, several “beat the bot” timed battles, and Robothespian, a life-size humanoid robot that can dance, sing, and take selfies with Science City visitors. Ravenswood Studio was also responsible for producing and printing the graphics for the exhibit.