Carnegie Mellon Researchers Develop Nation's First Robotic Tour Guide For The,,Dinosaur Hall At Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum Of Natur...( vance the navigation system and develop...)

"Nearly a century ago, steel magnate Andrew Carnegie pioneered in excavating and displaying dinosaurs at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, which he founded," said museum director Jay Apt. "Once again, the museum is reaffirming its scientific leadership role by using the best of today's interactive technologies to bring these amazing creatures and their continually unfolding stories to the public. This type of robotics technology is a cutting-edge exhibit technique we are proud to debut."

The Carnegie Museum of Natural History's Dinosaur Hall displays what are considered the world's best-preserved full skeletons of Allosaurus, Apatosaurus, Camarasaurus, Camptosaurus, Corythosaurus, Diplodocus, Dryosaurus, Protoceratops, Stegosaurus and the first Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever discovered and only one of eight known. The entire dinosaur collection contains approximately 500 specimens and is the third largest in the world.

The museum began collecting the giant fossils in 1898 after Carnegie read a newspaper article titled the "Most Colossal Animal Ever on Earth Just Found Out West." In pursuit of these awe inspiring specimens for Pittsburgh, Carnegie financed an expedition to Wyoming that yielded the museum's first dinosaur find, the 84-foot-long Diplodocus carnegii. Casts of this creature, which is one of the longest known dinosaurs, are on display in other museums around the world.

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Contact: Anne Watzman
aw16@andrew.cmu.edu
412-268-3830
Carnegie Mellon University
26-May-1998