An estimated 5,000 people entered the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh on Wednesday to attend the inaugural Robotics Discovery Day, a free event put on by the Pittsburgh Robotics Network.

For Joel Reed, executive director of the nonprofit robotics advocacy organization, seeing the faces of the thousands of students who visited as they looked at and learned about all of the robotics-based innovations taking place right here in Pittsburgh brought him immense joy. And that feeling wasn’t limited to only the younger attendees who came in from nearly 65 area schools, he said.

“We’ve seen people of all ages taking photos with the robots, sitting and engaging with all of the exhibiting companies that have been here,” Reed said. “It’s been really exciting.”

Nearly 50 robotics and robotics-related companies occupied a booth in the Robozone during the event, representing about half of the more than 100 members that make up the PRN.