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Hitchhiking Robot Is Travelling The US To Find Out If Robots Can Trust Humans
A Canadian robot is hitchhiking across the USA, relying on strangers to give it a ride from place to place.
Setting off in Boston, Massachusetts, hitchBOT is planning to travel across the country to LA in California, having already hitchhiked its way round Canada, Germany and The Netherlands.
Described as an ‘outgoing and charismatic robot’ by its makers, hitchBOT was initially designed by a group of professors to find out if robots could trust humans.
“This trip will be unlike any other, as hitchBOT’s goal is not only to hitchhike across the US, but also to visit a number of historic sites and monuments. We’re hoping to see hitchBOT involved in some creative adventures while on the road,” said Dr David Harris Smith of McMaster University, one of hitchBOT’s creators.
The plucky robot will be ticking off items from a bucket list including visits to Times Square in New York City, Mount Rushmore in South Dakota and The Grand Canyon in Arizona.
Unable to move by himself, the robot relies on being carried around by sympathetic strangers and passed on to other people or dropped off at petrol stations or shops.
With a bucket for a head, rubber glove hands and matching rubber boots, hitchBOT isn’t the most advanced robot around but it can use Cleverscript speech technology to answer questions and talk about its favourite pasttimes.
The lo-fi design was intentional in order to appear approachable and to deter potential thieves.
A built-in GPS chip can track the robot’s location, while an on-board camera takes a snap every 20 minutes, which are then posted to social media.
On the hitchBOT.me website, the robot describes itself as an ‘avid instagrammer and tweeter’ and it also has its own Facebook page where it posts updates from its travels.
Researchers are analysing the data on social media to see how people interact with a robot that needs their help.
As well as being keen on trivia, hitchBOT is also a big fan of Kraftwerk.
(Image credit: Ryerson University)
