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News & Blogs The Hitchhiking Robot Uprising

Tude

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Matt Derrick

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i'm tempted to say this is a hoax only because there's no actual pictures of the robot. also, the 'head/face' doesn't match the photoshopped pictures.
 

Tude

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ok, google queen on it. Found a couple pics --- not sure if the one is just a posing pic for the newspaper. But the article has the supposedly real deal. hehe - currently has a coors light body.

Posing pic?
10474732_475865109215491_7615911072792267305_n.jpg


LOL Coors light body ...
"After the robot hits the road on July 27, you can follow along on Instagram,Twitter, and at the bot's website: hitchBOT.me. For now, below, you can see a photo of the beer bucket body into which hitchBOT's electronics will be placed and on which its Wellies will be strapped. "

e87a3d0d8.jpg


http://www.theatlantic.com/technolo...hats-going-to-hitchhike-across-canada/372677/
 
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LawrenceofSuburbia

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So turns out this is actually happening:

Technology
Hitchhiking Robot Treks Across Canada
August 7, 2014 | by Lisa Winter

Screen%20Shot%202014-08-07%20at%2012.04.10%20PM.jpg

Photo credit: hitchBOT

Attention all Canadians: If you spot an adorable smiling robot on the side of the road, PLEASE put it in your car and have a conversation with it. Seriously, you should do it. If not for the sake of saying you made a robot friend, then do it for science.

The robot, aptly named hitchBOT, is the brainchild of David Harris Smith of McMaster University and Frauke Zeller of Ryerson University. They came up with the concept in 2013 as a way of learning more about how humans and robots could interact with one another.

hitchBOT’s journey began in Halifax, Nova Scotia on July 27. It will be traveling a total of 6,000 km to Victoria, British Columbia, though it isn’t entirely clear how long the journey will take. The route taken is totally at the discretion of the driver.

hitchBOT doesn’t look as fashionable as robots depicted in the movies. It has pool noodle arms and legs, rubber glove hands, and rain boots for feet. However, what it loses in style points it makes up in personality and its winning LED display smile. When hitchBOT is able to secure a ride westbound, it pleasantly talks with the driver about trivia, how it was created, and is also able to answer questions about the history of its journey. It has access to the Wikipedia API in order to have a more fruitful conversation about a variety of topics.

The robot’s power source comes from solar panels around the body that soak up the rays while it waits for its next ride, and there is a power adapter for the car to keep hitchBOT going from one place to the next.

Though there are numerous stereotypes about Canadians being incredibly polite, there is obviously the concern that someone will go against the spirit of the program and harm the robot. As it turns out, trusting strangers to care for hitchBOT properly is a big part of this experiment.

“Usually, we are concerned with whether we can trust robots. This project asks: can robots trust human beings?” Zeller said in a press release.

If someone did try to harm hitchBOT or if there are unforeseen events during the journey, the robot can be recovered with the integrated GPS and 3G connection. This internet connection also allows hitchBOT to send reports from the road via Twitter, Facebook, and a website with a map logging the journey so far.

“I am excited and a bit nervous about whether people will pick me up or if they will be nice to me along the way,” hitchBOT stated in a press release. “I don’t have a specific route and I’m not sure how long it will take but I’m up for the adventure. I hope my fellow Canadians will help me with my journey.”
---
story here.
so, will any of you guys pick it up if you see it?
 

Tude

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yep, I've been following it. Read somewhere that it was half way through it's journey - but I cannot find that now.
 
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Kim Chee

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Update:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-28837603

Robot ends 6,000km Canada hitch-hike

By News from Elsewhere...
...media reports from around the world, found by BBC Monitoring
_77016751_hitchbot_manitoulin_020814_twitter.jpg

A robot sent out to travel across Canada by hitch-hiking has completed its 6,000km (3,728-mile) trip - apparently in one piece.

HitchBOT reached Canada's Pacific coast at Victoria, British Columbia nearly three weeks after leaving Halifax in Nova Scotia, far away on the Atlantic coast, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reports. "I'm on a boat," one of HitchBOT's last tweets says. "Well, a ferry to be exact. Victoria, I'm on my way." An arrival event is due to be held on Thursday.

The robot was made by a group of Toronto researchers as an experiment in human-robot interaction and artificial intelligence technologies. Built from an old beer-cooler bucket, foam pool noodles, wellies, solar panels and a computer, it uses GPS technology to send its creators details and pictures of its location. "This project asks: can robots trust human beings?" researcher Frauke Zeller of Ryerson University says.

David Smith of McMaster University tells the Toronto Star newspaper it took only two minutes for HitchBOT to be picked up after being left on a roadside in Halifax on 27 July. Since then, its journey - which included attending a wedding in the province of British Columbia - has gathered more than 30,000 followers on Twitter and over 40,000 likes on Facebook. "We're elated," Smith says. "It's been really great fun and to me it seems like it brought people together in a really interesting way."
Use [HASHTAG]#NewsfromElsewhere[/HASHTAG] to stay up-to-date with our reports via Twitter.
BBC © 2014
 

Matt Derrick

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yay for happy endings :p

that's hilarious about the wedding...
 

kidbob

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id of tagged it lol...pulled a johnny-5 on it and decked it out with upper and lower rockers and a vest lol mohawk...stock the box with beer lol
 

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