PITTSBURGH- Carnegie Mellon University robots and robotic systems will be on display at a variety of events during the Republican Convention in Philadelphia and the Democratic Convention in Los Angeles as the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance and Chamber of Commerce showcase southwestern Pennsylvania technology to highlight the region's legislative agenda.

July 30, 12 Noon to 3 p.m., Governor Tom Ridge hosts the Pennsylvania Technology Showcase at the Franklin Institute. Carnegie Mellon robots performing on site include:

Skyworker, a robotic assistant for assembly and maintenance of facilities in space.

Grislee, a robot that inspects and repairs gas lines without interrupting gas flow.

Eventscope, an interface for remote experience via Carnegie Mellon's robotic explorers.

Staff, campers and robots from the National Robotics Engineering Consortium's RoboCamp 2000, sponsored by NASA, also will be on hand.

July 31, 4-6 p.m., Senator Arlen Specter will be honored at an event focusing on advanced healthcare technologies, Ballroom at the Ben, 834 Chestnut Street.

Pearl, a robotic assistant to the elderly being developed in conjunction with the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing.

Demonstrations of the "HipNav" surgical system for total hip replacements, an image overlay system that eliminates having to place pins in patient's bodies to direct surgeons and hand-held tremor cancellation tools for surgeons developed by robotics researchers and doctors from UPMC Shadyside collaborating at Carnegie Mellon's Center for Medical Robotics and Computer-Assisted Surgery.

Aug. 1, 4-6 p.m. An autonomous helicopter developed at Carnegie Mellon will be on hand at an event honoring Pennsylvania Congressman Bud Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, House of Colonial Dames, 1630 Latimer Street.

Aug. 2, 4-6 p.m. The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) from Carnegie Mellon's Software Engineering Institute will demonstrate how hackers and computer viruses can be stopped at a reception honoring Senator Rick Santorum, Pennsylvania Attorney General Mike Fisher and Allegheny County Executive Jim Roddey at PNC Bank Center, 1600 Market Street.

On Aug. 15, during the Democratic Convention in Los Angeles, the Pittsburgh region will host an event at the Warner Brothers Museum that will highlight :

Robotics,

Cybersecurity,

Advanced healthcare technology,

Information technology

The Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse

Pennsylvania Spokes-robot Adam 40-80, developed by Pittsburgh-based Mobot, Inc., spun out of Carnegie Mellon spin-off RedZone Robotics, Inc., features speech technology developed at the university's School of Computer Science.