“HitchBOT” The Hitchhiking Robot Got Destroyed

HitchBOT, the hitchhiking robot that had made cross-country trips across Canada, the Netherlands and Germany, was mutilated in Philadelphia two weeks after beginning its US trip. The robot attended a wedding in Germany, had its portrait painted in the Netherlands and was making big plans for its cross-country tour of the US, including taking in some jazz in New Orleans, visiting the Grand Canyon, and snapping a selfie with the Hollywood sign, before he was shot multiple times by a cop.

Hitchhiking robot that crossed nations fails to last 2 weeks in U.S. http://t.co/AtRW4kvBfT

— TIME.com (@TIME) August 3, 2015

NEW: Surveillance video shows someone beating up @hitchBOT in Old City, Philadelphia. @fox29philly. pic.twitter.com/YZ5tMIFYuD — Dave Kinchen on FOX (@DKinchenFOX29) August 3, 2015

HitchBot’s inventors say the robot was completely helpless and it was impossible for it to assault anyone since all it could do was lift up one arm and stick out its thumb. “HitchBot was a really primitive robot. I admit that it was not programmed to identify itself or to give really coherent answers if interrogated by police officers, but it’s absolutely impossible that it verbally abused anyone or acted violently in any way. It wasn’t even capable of being aggressive or of standing up! If he [Gilmore] had a problem with it, he should have turned it off. He certainly didn’t need to shoot it 13 times and run over it with his car! This guy really has an attitude problem!” said HitchBot co-creator, McMaster Assistant Professor, David Harris-Smith (Department of Communication Studies and Multimedia).

“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; sometimes bad things happen to good robots. We know that many of HitchBOT’s fans will be disappointed, but we want them to be assured that this great experiment is not over. We have no interest in pressing charges or finding the people who vandalized HitchBOT; we wish to remember the good times, and we encourage HitchBOT’s friends and fans to do the same,” the HitchBOT “family” said on its website.

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

HitchBOT, which couldn’t move on its own and required friendly humans to take it from place to place, was a social experiment intended, in part, to test human psychology when confronted with technological novelty.

“This is both an artwork and social robotics experiment. Usually, we are concerned whether we can trust robots, e.g. as helpers in our homes. But this project takes it the other way around and asks: can robots trust human beings?“ creators Frauke Zeller and David Harris Smith had told The Atlantic.

And here is the video of the Jerk Who Killed hitchBOT:

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