HitchBOT’s last stop

The part-robot, part-social experiment known as HitchBOT has come to an abrupt and unfortunate end. The robot’s Twitter announced on Aug. 1 that it was destroyed beyond repair, only two weeks into its American journey.

A popular and whimsical project that had garnered international attention, HitchBOT was developed in tandem by McMaster and Ryerson professors in an attempt to observe and understand how people would interact with robots in a natural setting.

“It kind of pushes the limitation of technology, not in the traditional way, but in human interaction with it,” remarked Mechatronic Engineering student and project member Dominik Kaukinen, in a fall interview with The Silhouette [Sept. 18, 2015]. “They’re attempting to treat it on a personal level.”

While some did manage to treat the robot with personal respect, shortly into its travels in the USA, HitchBOT was vandalized.

With a child-like bright blue and yellow aesthetic, the robot remained surprisingly sophisticated, armed with a GPS-locator, access to social media, and an LED screen on which it could create conversation and display its personality.

With no means of transporting itself, the robot relied on its charm and the goodwill of passing drivers to carry it across enormous distances.

Nearly one year ago, HitchBOT completed a 6,000 km journey across Canada that began in Halifax, NS and brought the robot all the way to the Pacific coast in Victoria, BC.

The robot had also completed trips in Germany and the Netherlands to warm reception before beginning its American journey in Boston on July 17, with San Francisco as its final destination.

The robot was in Philadelphia and was last picked up by prank video YouTube stars Jesse Wellens and Ed Bassmaster. According to HitchBOT’s team, the head and various parts were missing following the incident.

However, despite the end of its journey, HitchBOT’s demise has received extensive media coverage and support on social media.

In a show of solidarity with McMaster’s creators, a group of innovators from Philadelphia will be constructing a similar robot, “PhillyLoveBOT”, with the help of one of the original HitchBOT creators, Mechatronic Engineering student Colin Gaigich. Tech developers and robot enthusiasts came together at the Hackatory, a creative tech space in downtown Philadelphia, to begin work on the sister robot this week.

While it may seem like HitchBOT reached its end this summer, this may just be the beginning of its adventure.