Hitchhiking robot meets demise in Philly
PHILADELPHIA >> A hitchhiking robot that captured the hearts of fans worldwide met its demise in the U.S.
The Canadian researchers who created hitch BOT as a social experiment told The Associated Press that someone i n Philadelphia damaged the robot beyond repair early Saturday, end- ing its first American tour after about two weeks.
“Sadly, sadly it’s come to an end,” said Frauke Zeller, one of its co-creators.
The kid-size robot set out to travel cross-country after successfully hitchhiking across Canada i n 26 days la st year and parts of Europe. It’s immobile on its own, relying on the kindness of strangers. Those who picked it up often passed it to other travelers or left it where others might notice it.
It star ted in Marblehead, Massachusetts, on July 17 with it s thumb raised skyward, a grin on its digital face and tape wrapped around its cylindrical head that read “San Francisco or bust.”
T he robot bounced around the Boston area and was briefly taken to sea. One day, it took in a Red Sox game, checking off one of the items on the bucket list created for it. But hitch BOT never made it off the East Coast.
The creators were sent an i mage of the vandalized robot Saturday but couldn’t track it s location because the battery is dead. They said they don’t know who destroyed it or why.
The robot was designed to be a talking travel companion and could toss out factoids and carry limited conversation. A GPS in the robot tracked its location, and a camera randomly snapped photos about every 20 minutes to document its travels.