Hitchhiking robot’s cross-country trip in US ends in Philly

A robot that was hitchhiking across the United States ended its journey Saturday when it was destroyed in Philadelphia.

Researchers announced the robot’s demise on its website where it says: oh dear, my robot body was damaged however I still get to live on with my friends back home.

The Associated Press reports that the human-shaped android hitchBOT was designed by Canadian researchers for an experiment. “hitchBOT’s designers even insist it had a personality that liked music, listening to people talk about philosophy, and, of course, traveling and meeting new people”.

Beginning this U.S. journey, the robot started travelling from Massachusetts on July 17 where a tape was attached around its head that says San Francisco or bust. The creators had been sent a vandalized image of the robot but could not track its location because the battery is presumably dead.

HitchBOT equipment included Global Positioning System navigation and a Wi-Fi connection, and it snapped photos to document its whereabouts. One day, it took in a Red Sox game, checking off one of the items on the bucket list created for it. But hitchBOT never made it off the East Coast.

During past hitchhiking trips, the robot attended a comic convention and a wedding, and had its portrait painted in the Netherlands.

But after just two weeks in America, hitchBOT was “vandalized” in Philadelphia on Friday night, according to a statement from the team monitoring the robot’s travels. It once spent a week with a heavy metal band.

“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”, his creators stated on Facebook.

The robot will be retired for an indeterminate time while the scientists behind the robot will instead focus on what they learned from the hitchBOT experience, and “explore future adventures for robots and humans”.

Children who adored HitchBot are in for some heartbreak after the destruction of their favourite hitchhiker by ruthless vandals who have ruined HitchBOT beyond fix.