A Summer of Robots: Seeding Creative Robotics Across the Urban Landsdcape

This article describes an urban experiment in community-based robotics deployed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during 2007 and 2008. Twenty-one community-based organizations deployed robotics workshops, exhibits and curated pieces throughout the city, creating a space for technology fluency and exposition throughout the urban landscape, from galleries and schools to parks. The details of the creative design and arts approach employed and the results garnered elucidate our definitions of technology fluency, community-based robotics and the city-wide impact possible through synchronized outreach activities deployed at a large scale.