Robot in the Park Museum Exhibit
Robot in the Park interactive museum exhibit invites visitors into a world where nature-inspired robots interact with people and their environment. Transforming any outdoor space into a playground of exploration and wonder!
Watch Robot in the Park Summary on YouTube
Visitors will experience:
Nature-Inspired Learning
Hands-on Interactive Demos
Robots in Action
Why Your Museum Will Love It
Engaging, educational, and unforgettable for visitors of all ages.
Robot in the Park at the Tett Centre summer pop-up event. Photo Credit: Sage Green Photography
Families, kids, and adults observe the movements, interact, take photos, and ask questions. Creating the organic moments of curiosity that museums love to foster.
It’s a perfect fit for museums focused on nature, STEM, art, innovation, or environmental themes as the experience bridges these together.
The exhibit is flexible to your venue’s preferences:
- Works beautifully in gardens, courtyards, or park spaces
- Can accompany special events, festivals, or seasonal programs
- Encourages repeat visitation and word-of-mouth excitement
- Choose activities to tailor the audience experience
- Works outdoors in good weather, or indoors year-round
- Nature photography featuring the robots is available to display
Robot in the Park transforms your museum space into a living, breathing exploration ground where visitors meet nature-inspired robotic creatures.
Participants of the workshop at the Boys and Girls Club brought their Robot Butterflies to the season finale!
Photos shared with permission of parents/guardians through registration, and photos taken with permission of the participants.
The Robot in the Park museum exhibit is a fresh, grassroots-built experience. Plus, visitors will be thrilled to learn that they can build these robots too, just as participants did in our workshop in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club STEM & Robotics Centre.
Visitor Experience
The exhibit offers a range of immersive activities that engage visitors of all ages.
Watch Robot in the Park Interactive Experience on YouTube
Robot Performance
Become a conductor of the robots in an interactive performance! Control a set of robots (red team or blue team) by holding the ‘conductor’ robot in your hands. As you tilt it, notice how the robots respond in sync!
Environmental Quests
Embark on quests with the robots. The quests relate environmental knowledge to technology and engineering. Visitors engage in this real-world game to help the robots gain knowledge about Earth.
Hidden Robot Search
The robots are hidden in plain sight in an outdoor area. Visitors have fun searching for 10 robots and seeing what their unique animation is. Visitors are encouraged to get involved and try nature photography by taking a photo of each robot they spot!
Robot Petting Zoo
Robots displayed in an area where visitors stroll through, where they can interact by moving close to the robot. The robot animates in response to its proximity sensor. Different robots respond in unique ways! Information signs point out nature themed facts.
Visitors leave feeling inspired, having been part of a moment of magic where technology and nature meet. It is a relaxing exhibit with room to let your imagination wander.
Additional engagement can be offered through a presentation that showcases the artist’s breadth of robotics practice, including her work testing a robot at the Mars Desert Research Station.
New for 2026: we’re expanding the exhibit with 20 additional robots, plus new creatures (dragonfly, bee, bat, and more)!
About the Robots
The exhibit features robots built on the Robot Butterfly platform, which have been extensively tested through workshops and multiple outdoor events.
Watch Hello Robot Butterfly! on YouTube
These robots are low-speed and gentle, making them safe and approachable for visitors of all ages.
Visitors will enjoy observing the details of the wings and robots up close.
The robots can be positioned at different heights to accommodate visitors with varying mobility levels. They operate quietly, with only the motors producing only a low-volume sound (similar to a cd-rom drive opening).
In the event of any malfunction, backup robots are available, and guidance can be provided for troubleshooting.
About the Artist
Robot in the Park grew from Robot Missions' Field Tests with Bowie the Robot cleaning up plastic on a beach. The artist, Erin RobotZwrrl, wanted to build on this community engagement and have more accessible robots. Since then, she has conducted Robot in the Park events in collaboration with The Kick & Push Festival, and the Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning summer pop-up.
Erin testing her Atmosphinder robot at the Mars Desert Research Station in 2023. Photo credit: Kris Davidson
Erin RobotZwrrl is an eccentric robot maker and analogue astronaut based in Kingston, Ontario. Erin’s skills span electronics, mechanical design, firmware programming, embedded systems, and fabrication. She unconventionally learned to build robots by being self-taught online and through mentorship, leading to studies at International Space University. To pursue her ideas further she founded Robot Missions Inc. Her work has been recognised with awards including The Peak - Emerging Leader in Technology and as a finalist in the Lieutenant Governor’s Visionaries Prize. She has delivered a TEDx talk about her Mars robot research. Her work has been featured on CBC, Artsfile, Kingston Theatre Alliance, the Embedded.fm Podcast, and other media outlets.
Contact
Interested in bringing Robot in the Park to your museum? Let’s get in touch and discuss next steps!
Robot in the Park is delivered by Robot Missions Inc., a fully insured provider of educational and interactive robotics products and programs.
Please be aware that presenting this exhibit requires a fee, reflecting the specialized expertise and development work behind it. Thank you for supporting art!
Page last updated: December 11 2025 12:30:53.