HitchBOT destroyed while attempting USA journey

August 2, 2015August 2, 2015 Kevin Browne 0 Comments

HitchBOT has been destroyed. The robot created by David Harris Smith of McMaster University and Frauke Zeller of Ryerson University won hearts around the world for conducting a hitchhiking journey across Canada last summer.

While attempting a similar hitchhiking journey in the USA, two weeks into that journey, yesterday HitchBOT was destroyed by a vandal. Though it is not safe for work, or for hearts, the grizzly scene was captured on Twitter: photo/status.

The following notice was posted on m.hitchbot.me:

Oh dear, my body was damaged, but I live on back home and with all my friends. I guess sometimes bad things happen to good robots! My trip must come to an end for now, but my love for humans will never fade. Thank you to all my friends.

A message from the family:

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. For now we will focus on the question “what can be learned from this?” and explore future adventures for robots and humans.

HitchBOT’s family will be available for interviews starting Sunday, August 2nd, further details will be available by August 5th.

For interview requests, please contact:
Johanna VanderMaas
Public Affairs
Communications, Government and Community Engagement | Ryerson University
416.979.5000 x 4630

On the one hand, yes, it’s just a robot and the researchers can try to learn from this experience. On the other hand, it’s really lame, and maybe the only thing that can be learned is that some people can act like total jerks. I hope the person who did this recognizes the community outpouring, and uses it as motivation it to turn around what I can only surmise is a sad life.