Dr. David Smith of McMaster University and Dr. Frauke Zeller and Ryerson University created hitchBOT, a cute robot that hitchhikes. It started its “life” in Port Credit, Ontario, and traveled across Canada by itself, relying on the kindness (and curiosity) of strangers. It also traveled across Germany and the Netherlands, and had plenty of adventures along the way, all the time communicating via Facebook and Twitter. See how that works in this video.
Nothing went wrong with any of those trips -until hitchBOT came to the USA. An epic trip was planned, but two weeks into the journey, hitchbot was damaged by vandals in Philadelphia.
My trip must come to an end for now, but my love for humans will never fade. Thanks friends: http://t.co/DabYmi6OxH pic.twitter.com/sJPVSxeawg
— hitchBOT (@hitchBOT) August 1, 2015
The team is not going to press charges, and are focusing on learning from the experience. You can follow hitchBOT news at the website.