Engineering:HitchBOT

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hitchBOT was a Canadian hitchhiking robot created by professors David Harris Smith of McMaster University and Frauke Zeller of Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly known as Ryerson University) in 2013.[1][2][3] It gained international attention for successfully hitchhiking across Canada, Germany and the Netherlands. In 2015, its attempt to hitchhike across the United States ended when it was stripped, dismembered, and decapitated in Philadelphia.[4]

Description

Original hitchBOT in collections

Smith, who had hitchhiked across Canada three times, and Zeller had "designed the robot to learn about how people interact with technology and ask the question, 'Can robots trust human beings?'"[4] The robot could not walk – it completed its "hitchhiking" journeys by "asking" to be carried by those who picked it up. The robot could engage in basic conversations, discuss facts, and function as a robotic companion during travels in the vehicle of the driver who picked it up. As part of a social experiment, it was equipped with social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.[5]


Travels

The press reported the robot's "hitchhiking" in many countries.[4] From July 27, 2014, to August 21, 2014, it hitchhiked across Canada from the Institute for Applied Creativity at NSCAD University,[6] Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Victoria, British Columbia.[7][8][5] The robot spent a weekend with the Wiikwemkoong First Nation, it was given the name "biiaabkookwe" translating as "Iron Woman" from the Anishinaabe.[9] The robot was so popular that its GPS had to be disabled sometimes to prevent crowds from bothering those who took it into their homes.[5]

A second hitchBOT machine was made,[10] and in February 2015, it hitchhiked around Germany for ten days.[11] For three weeks in June 2015, it hitched around the Netherlands.[12]

HitchBOT then attempted to cross the United States from Boston to San Francisco, starting July 17, 2015. After two weeks, on August 1, 2015, a photo was tweeted,[13] showing that the robot had been stripped "beyond repair" and decapitated in Philadelphia.[14] It was located by some people following its progress on its website.[14] The head was never found.[5] Frauke Zeller, co-creator of hitchBOT, said: "We can see on all our data that the tablet and battery and everything shut off at the same time, so it must have been when they vandalised the bot."[14]

Legacy

HitchBOT's story highlighted the issues of autonomous technology, the ethics of robot treatment, and the anthropomorphism of animate-like devices.[5] The first hitchBOT became a permanent Canada Science and Technology Museum exhibit.[10] The second damaged robot was rebuilt and is currently housed at the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum in Paderborn, Germany.[15] Smith and Zeller recreated their invention as hitchBOT 2.0 in 2019.[5] The robot was sent to Paris, France, where it was touring about and appearing in a play, Killing Robots, by Linda Blanchet.[16] That tour was put on hold indefinitely due to COVID-19.[17]

Similar robots

A similar hitch-hiking robot, TweenBOT, travelled in the late 2000s. Its purpose was also to study the interaction of humans with it.[18] Zeller has also created an art critic robot called kulturBOT.[19]

References

  1. ↑ "hitchBOT Making my way across Canada...one ride at a time". Summer 2014. p. 2. http://www.hitchbot.me/wp-content/media/hB_MediaKit_Summer2014.pdf. "I was first conceived in 2013 by Dr. David Harris Smith of McMaster University and Dr. Frauke Zeller from the School of Professional Communication at Ryerson University." 
  2. ↑ Madrigal, Alexis C. (June 12, 2014). "Meet the Cute, Wellies-Wearing, Wikipedia-Reading Robot That's Going to Hitchhike Across Canada". The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/06/meet-the-cute-wellies-wearing-robot-thats-going-to-hitchhike-across-canada/372677/. Retrieved February 20, 2015. 
  3. ↑ "HitchBOT the hitchhiking robot". CBC News: The National. July 28, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pWNQ3yUTJo. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Dave, Paresh (August 3, 2015). "Hitchhiking robot that made it across Canada maimed on U.S. road trip". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-hitchbot-destroyed-20150803-story.html. Retrieved August 4, 2015. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Wakefield, Jane (March 17, 2019). "Can you murder a robot?". BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-47090174. Retrieved May 4, 2019. 
  6. ↑ "hitchBOT Announces start date for Canadian hitchhiking journey". June 13, 2014. http://www.hitchbot.me/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/hitchBOT_PressRelease_13Jun2014.pdf. Retrieved February 20, 2015. 
  7. ↑ Posner, Michael (December 20, 2013). "In our love affair with machines, will they break our hearts?". The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/relationships/in-our-love-affair-with-machines-will-they-break-our-hearts/article16075817/?page=all. Retrieved February 20, 2015. 
  8. ↑ "hitchBOT". http://www.hitchbot.me/. Retrieved February 20, 2015. 
  9. ↑ Hudes, Sammy (August 4, 2014). "HitchBOT update: Canada’s hitchhiking robot picks up an honourary name on Manitoulin Island". https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/hitchbot-update-canadas-hitchhiking-robot-picks-up-an-honourary-name-on-manitoulin-island. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "HitchBOT, hitchhiking robot, settles down at Canada Science and Technology Museum". CBC News. December 15, 2015. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/hitchbot-hitchhiking-robot-ottawa-museum-1.3366071. 
  11. ↑ "My German Adventure". http://www.hitchbot.me/de/my-german-adventure/. Retrieved February 20, 2015. 
  12. ↑ "Travels in the Netherlands" (in en-US). http://www.hitchbot.me/about/netherlands/. 
  13. ↑ Courtois, Andrea [@AndreaWBZ] (August 1, 2015). "EXCLUSIVE PHOTO: evidence of vandalized hitchhiking robot in #philly. #hitchBOTinUSA trip is over....". https://twitter.com/AndreaWBZ/status/627627830520770560. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Gabbatt, Adam (August 3, 2015). "hitchBOT's decapitators avoided capture by the hitchhiking android's cameras". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/aug/03/hitchbot-hitchhiking-robot-destroyed-philadelphia. Retrieved August 5, 2015. 
  15. ↑ https://www.dw.com/en/hitchhiking-robot-hitchbot-comes-to-paderborn-museum/a-45153995
  16. ↑ Warren, May (December 28, 2019). "It's hitchBOT 2.0. The hitchhiking robot left for dead on a U.S. street in 2015 is back — on stage in France". Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/12/28/its-hitchbot-20-the-hitchhiking-robot-left-for-dead-on-a-us-street-in-2015-is-back-on-stage-in-france.html. 
  17. ↑ "My sibling hitchBOT – The Vessel" (in en-US). http://www.thevesselproject.org/hitchbot/. 
  18. ↑ "Tweenbots - Kacie Kinzer". http://www.tweenbots.com/. 
  19. ↑ Madrigal, Alexis C. (May 19, 2014). "Two Robots, Both Alike in Dignity". The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/05/two-robots-both-alike-in-dignity/371168/. Retrieved February 20, 2015. 
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  • The Death and Lives of hitchBOT: The Design and Implementation of a Hitchhiking Robot David Harris Smith & Frauke Zeller (2017)



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