Sunday, August 2, 2015

On hitchBOT, the lifting robot, and his America Tour came to an end prematurely – nrc.nl

Canada made him very, blue plastic arms, his legs plastic blue, yellow gloves, yellow boots. Germany also, no problem. Netherlands either. But two weeks after the lifting robot hitchBOT started his ultimate journey through the United States, he was beaten severely found in Philadelphia. It is the (provisional) end of a hitherto successful and exciting social experiment.

HitchBOT was the work of Canadian scientists, intended to investigate whether people really trust robots. He had to be picked up by residents, driven around sightseeing, then again being left so that the routine again of advance could begin. The move had to be made pictures there, which ended up on social media. The robot sent tweets and his location was held by the scientists constantly monitored. Hitchbot could moreover talk and act and knew all Wikipedia Lemma from his head.

The first trip was one by Canada, last summer. Halifax, Nova Scotia all the way to the other side of the country, to Victoria, British Columbia. 10,000 kilometers in a month. And it went well (download infographic).



Also in Germany, the robot was warmly received. In February he traveled for ten days through the country, from Munich via cities such as Cologne, Berlin and Hamburg back to Munich. He visited include the Castle of Neuschwanstein, the Cologne Cathedral, the Brandenburg Gate.



Hitchbot then was last June in Netherlands “on vacation” for three weeks. He was there at the invitation of the Enschede Concordia Film, Theatre, Exhibition and stayed mostly in Twente: Diepenheim, Ootmarsum, the Midsummer festival in Mariënheem.



Bucket list

America Trip was a meant to be a so-called ‘bucket list’ to be finished, a list of things you should have done or seen before you die. Contains, among others, “see the lights of Times Square,” “sunbathing on Myrtle Beach in South Carolina,” “VEGAS”, a “selfie with the Hollywood Logo” and “the fifth image on Mount Rushmore are.”

There is but little came because beyond the northeastern US is hitchBOT not come. Yesterday a picture of the robot appeared without head, arms torn beside him.



Last seen

What exactly happened and who did this is still unclear. The last people who hitchBOT had with them, were the popular YouTuber Jesse Wellens and a friend of his who filmed their adventure with the robot.



But the two gave hitchBOT own words again neatly somewhere in Philadelphia . Then there was the photo that appeared later after heard nothing more. The team behind the robot responded with a statement. The experiment is certainly not over.



“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 knowthat many or hitchBOT’s fans will be disappointed, but we want them to be assured thatthis great experiment is not over. For now we will focus on the question “what can be learned from this?” And explore future adventures for robots and humans “

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