Kickstarter Project Set To Rebuild HitchBOT, The Hitchhiking Robot That Met Its End In Philadelphia
A Kickstarter page has been started to rebuild HitchBOT, a robot that managed to successfully hitchhike its way around Canada and Europe before being smashed to pieces on the streets of Philadelphia.
HitchBOT was created as part of an experiment to see if robots can trust humans and recently set off on a hitchhiking trip across the U.S where it met its untimely demise in the ‘City Of Brotherly Love’.
A message from HitchBot on its website reads: “Oh dear, my body was damaged, but I live on back home and with all my friends. I guess sometimes bad things happen to good robots! My trip must come to an end for now, but my love for humans will never fade. Thank you to all my friends”.
A statement from the plucky robot’s maker’s reads: “HitchBOT’s trip came to an end last night in Philadelphia after having spent a little over two weeks hitchhiking and visiting sites in Boston, Salem, Gloucester, Marblehead, and New York City. Unfortunately, HitchBOT was vandalized overnight in Philadelphia”.
Started by ‘geek with a passion’ Nick Green, the crowdfunding page aims to raise $1,200 to rebuild HitchBOT and presumably restore its faith in humankind.
Described as an ‘outgoing and charismatic robot’ by its makers, HitchBOT was designed with a bucket for a head, rubber glove hands and matching rubber boots.
It was thought that the lo-fi design would deter potential thieves and make the robot more approachable. Sadly, the robot’s friendly appearance seems to have made it a target for vandals.
HitchBOT wasn’t the most advanced robot around but it could use Cleverscript speech technology to answer questions and talk about its favourite pasttimes.
The Kraftwerk-loving robot was due to complete a trip across the U.S., ticking off places of interest from a ‘bucket list’.
Unable to move by itself, the robot relied on being carried around by sympathetic strangers and passed on to other people or dropped off at petrol stations or shops.
