The BigBots are the icing on the Robot 250 cake, with most debuting Friday. An opening event from 7 to 10 p.m. that night includes a free Robot 250 trolley loop that will shuttle visitors to North Side sites, including The Andy Warhol Museum and the Mattress Factory.

Other Robot 250 exhibitions and events:

• The Andy Warhol Museum: "You're #1" -- Artist and BigBots curator Ian Ingram's giant remotely controlled foam finger (like the ones often seen at sporting events). It points at people and is triggered by control kiosks located around town (July 11-27).

• Also at The Warhol: "We Are Survival Machines" -- Using Carnegie Mellon's Gigapan robotic technology, this exhibit centers on an epic battle between robots and zombies (July 11-Nov. 16), and "Gigapan Student Project," student works at the Alcoa Business Center, located behind The Warhol (July 11-27).

• Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh -- Main Branch: "Shelter" by Garth Zeglin is a robot constructed of fabric that serves as shelter for visitors, who control its movement by touch (July 11-27).

• Carnegie Museum of Art: "Extreme Animals: The Video Game" by Matt Barton and Jacob Iiocci. The museum's Sculpture Court houses this installation of animatronic stuffed animals playing video games (July 11-27).

• Carnegie Science Center: The ABB Basketball Arm, a former auto welding robot that has been converted into a basketball shooting robot (July 11-27; will be part of the Science Center's robotic exhibit opening next spring). On July 19-20, the center is hosting a Robot Block Party.

• Citiparks/Roving Art Cart: Ally Reeves' "The Look-See Tree," already touring city parks, is a mobile tree trunk, drawn by bicycle wheels, with peepholes that are, on closer look, motion-activated mini theaters (through Sept. 15).

• Children's Museum of Pittsburgh: "Green Roof Roller Coaster" by Greg Witt and Joey Hays is mounted on the museum roof. It's a roller coaster that takes plants for a ride while sensors monitor conditions such as humidity, carbon dioxide levels and soil moisture (July 11-27). Other Children's Museum attractions include a Robotic Flower Garden (July 11-27) and robotic musical instruments and performances (dates vary).

• Schenley Park, Flagstaff Hill: "Rise and Fall" by Jennifer Gooch, a robotic sculpture using flags whose movements are triggered by approaching viewers, to explore the meanings attached to these patriotic icons (July 11-27).

• Mattress Factory: "Prototype for an infinite array of semi-autonomous percussive devices" by Keny Marshall comprises small robotic crickets that communicate by signal, activating and deactivating one another (through Aug. 9). Also at the Mattress Factory: robot-themed installations and lectures at the Mattress Factory's 1414 Monterey gallery (July 11-Aug. 30) and Art BQ, a barbecue and forum with artists on July 17.

• Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens: "Mower" -- Osman Khan, a visiting assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon's School of Art, built a robotic sheep that mows the Phipps lawns, demonstrating green sustainable mowing practices (July 10-27).

• Pittsburgh Center for the Arts: Artist Golan Levin's "Double-Taker (Snout)," a large outdoor interactive sculpture, is a former industrial robot arm covered in fabric that looks at and reacts to passers-by (July 18-Aug. 27). Levin also has an indoor installation that's part of the center's Biennial exhibit (through Aug. 24). Also, the PCA will host "I [Heart] Robots," an evening event for adults (July 18).

• PPG Plaza: "Reach, ROBOT" by Grisha Coleman is an installation that produces sounds depending on where people are in the plaza (July 11-27).

• Pittsburgh Filmmakers: "Mashings," an exhibit of robotic art by Carnegie Mellon students at Filmmakers Galleries, 477 Melwood Ave., Oakland (July 11-27).

Robot Film Festival

Citiparks will screen robot-themed films on Sundays in July as part of its Cinema in the Parks series on Flagstaff Hill: "The Iron Giant (July 13); "A.I." (July 20); "Westworld" (July 27). The festival also includes related performance events: Squonk Opera's "Astro-rama," which features a robot character, at Schenley Plaza (Oct. 15-18) and Quantum Theatre's adaptation of Shakespeare's "Cymbeline" at Mellon Park (July 31-Aug. 24).

For more details on Robot 250 exhibits and events, along with a map and directions, visit to www.robot250.org.