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OUR RESEARCH
The Wall Street Journal labels Pittsburgh "Roboburgh" on its high tech map. Here's why: Identity: Pittsburgh is forging a new identity
as Roboburgh, thanks to Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics
Institute, a springboard for robotics companies. Specialities: Robots do hazardous waste retrieval. In hospitals they dispense up to 10,000 doses of medication a day. Museums use them as tour guides. Players: McKessonHBOC Automated Healthcare, RedZone Robotics Inc., Mobot Inc., Probotics Inc. and AssistWare Technology, Inc. Hard Data: The Pittsburgh Technology Council says about $54 million in venture capital flowed here for technology-related industries in 1998. Some Vacation: In 1995, robotic scientist Dean Pomerleau and CMU grad student Todd Jochem took a seven-day drive in a minivan, leaving 98% of the steering to Ralph, their computerized navigator. Only problem? Ralph followed lines on the right side of the road and would "take exit ramps whether we wanted it to or not," recalss Dr. Pomerleau. The two arrived safely in San Diego, however, and have since started AssistWare Technology Inc., making systems to alert drivers when they wander off the road. Where They Combine Fun and Deal Making: Ultimate Frisbee summer league with about 300 members, many techies who talk about latest projects on the sidelines. "I can almost guarantee a couple companies a year will start out of those Ultimate fields," says Ultimate enthusiast Henry Throne, president of Cycle Time Corp., which makes systems for industrial robots. Local Legends: Rosie and Houdini. Like Cher, they each go by just one name. They are robots that work in nuclear facilities "where people can't." The maker, RedZone Robotics Inc., has sent another robot, Pioneer, to Chernobyl to do reconnaissance at the disaster site for future possible remediation. -The Wall Street Journal, Tuesday, November 23, 1999 Related Links: |
