PA - Hitchhiking robot 'hitchBOT' destroyed in Philadelphia

zwiebel

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A hitchhiking robot designed as a social experiment, that safely hitched through several European countries and Canada, has been destroyed early into its US journey.

Although little hitchBOT made it safely through New York and his owners tweeted he was California dreaming, they later were emailed photos posted on Instagram of the robot with its head, arms and legs ripped off sometime after it was dropped off in the oldest street in Philadelphia.They told press its journey had 'come to an end' and it couldn't be found as its GPS had been destroyed.

There may be hope for hitchbot though - the tech community of Philly came together and appears to have tracked down and returned the remaining parts to its creators. A fundraiser has also been set up to help its creators to rebuild it.

https://mobile.twitter.com/Kyle_J_Silva/status/628064497169731584/photo/1

http://6abc.com/technology/hitchhiking-robots-cross-country-trip-ends-in-philly/898424/

We had a previous thread about the start of hitchBOT's successful Canadian journey here:

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...aking-my-way-across-Canada-one-ride-at-a-time
 

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When I saw this on the news last night, I was so sad that it had gone through Canada and parts of Europe, but was destroyed here in the USA. So happy to read that there are still some awesome people here.
 
AWWWWW. I had just heard an amazing story of how it spent too much time in Boston because someone took it to the Red Sox game and someone else took him to some University campuses. And it made me laugh how the people in Boston were keeping him local. So hearing this is very sad. :sigh:
 
dang philthadelphia......ashamed to be local.
 
http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/hit...estroyed-philadelphia-jesse-wellens-1.3178244

"HitchBOT's 'murder' thought to be captured in surveillance footage
Video captured by Philadelphia surveillance camera thought to show hitchhiking Canadian robot's death
"

By Lauren O'Neil, CBC News Last Updated: Aug 03, 2015 10:13 PM ET



"Wellens sent CBC News a full-length video clip that he says was obtained from a resident who lives on Elfreths Ally.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjWdvZ77vwk

"Published on Aug 3, 2015

A hitchhiking robot that captured the hearts of fans in a journey across the US has been filmed being destroyed by a **** in Philadelphia

Timestamped at 5:46 a.m. Saturday morning, the closed-circuit security system footage shows what looks like a man in a Philadelphia Eagles jersey repeatedly kicking hitchBOT and removing some of its parts."

WARNING: Footage may be upsetting to watch or unsuitable for young children."
 
So sad this happened-especially that it happened in my city. What a great idea this was, and the robot's excursion was so heartwarming to follow. I am disturbed that this happened here-I was hoping he/she would do well here and enjoy him/herself. Every day, it seems, we have shootings and violence, and I was looking forward to HitchBot having a grand old time here, maybe visiting our stadium, waltzing down Broad Street, visiting Center City. Center City is where the incident happened. Such a shame. Hopefully, he HitchBot be repaired, or rebuilt, and can continue the journey.

JMO

Pat
 
Daily Mail isn't pulling any punches.

A baseball bat was used. Why was someone walking the streets in such early hours with a baseball bat?

The Mail article says a CBS journalist was the first to tweet the pic of the destroyed hitchBOT but I'm sure she wasn't. The first tweet came from someone else, who told one person they found it on Instagram then, when journalists started to retweet it, told other people they found it on the news.

When I asked for a link to the original Instagram photo, the tweeter just said, 'Naw'.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-cross-US.html?ito=social-twitter_dailymailus
 

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http://cnews.canoe.com/CNEWS/Science/2015/08/03/22536949.html

"TORONTO -- Collapsed among trash and dead leaves, its arms ripped off and its skull and brain nowhere in sight, the talking and tweeting hitchhiking robot from Canada met its untimely end in Philadelphia over the weekend.

But there may be another chance at life for the child-sized travelling robot.

HitchBOT's co-creators Frauke Zeller of Ryerson University in Toronto and David Smith of McMaster University in Hamilton said Monday that they've been overwhelmed with support and offers to revive the robot since it was vandalized beyond repair and left on a street in Philadelphia on Saturday and they are considering rebuilding it.

The robot was on a hitchhiking, social experiment adventure in the U.S. after trekking across Canada and parts of Europe without incident last year. Strangers helped the immobile hitchBOT travel from place to place while checking items off its bucket list.

The solar panel-powered robot was designed to traverse continents on the kindness of strangers and could toss out factoids and carry on limited conversation. It was equipped with a GPS tracker and a camera to chronicle its journey and was programmed to snap a photo of what was going on around it every 20 minutes."
 
So sad, so ironic that it made it through Europe and Canada but when it hits USA, city of "brotherly love" it was destroyed. I guess the way we are losing children right now at least this was a robot and not human. Still really sad it had to be destroyed.
 
Wow, I know exactly where the crime occurred, as I go down that way on Wednesday nights. I will see if I can get more information tomorrow night, if any of the locals know anything.
 
Why in the world was the poor little guy out on the streets alone in the middle of the night? Tsk! Tsk!

Actually, I am really wondering why it was out there like that. Embarrassing that this happened in our country, and darnit! Awful that someone had the need to destroy.

Anyone hear from Sock Monkey lately?
 
Why in the world was the poor little guy out on the streets alone in the middle of the night? Tsk! Tsk!

Actually, I am really wondering why it was out there like that. Embarrassing that this happened in our country, and darnit! Awful that someone had the need to destroy.

Anyone hear from Sock Monkey lately?

It could have happened anywhere, and good point, what was the little guy doing out there?!
 
Wow, I know exactly where the crime occurred, as I go down that way on Wednesday nights. I will see if I can get more information tomorrow night, if any of the locals know anything.

look out for that guy with the bat
 
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...ide-could-be-with-fedex-destination-home.html

"HitchBOT’s next ride could be with FedEx — destination: home
Robot’s remains, rescued from Philadelphia, might be shipped home Wednesday, says U.S. fan Kyle Silva
."

"Rhode Island resident Kyle Silva, 24, who had showed the pint-sized robot around his neighbourhood last month as it was starting its trek across America, said a local hitchBOT “super-fan” drove about 440 kilometres to Philadelphia to pick up the robot’s remains and bring them to East Providence.

“He knew the thing was dead. The whole head, everything, was missing. He knew it was doing no good sitting in that area, so he just took it, brought it back,” said Silva on Tuesday.

He said the good Samaritan has been in touch with hitchBOT’s research team about sending what’s left of the robot back to Canada.

“I think now it’s arranged that he’s going to FedEx it back tomorrow,” Silva said. “He said he felt like a mobster with a dead body in the back of his truck.”

HitchBOT’s creators, Frauke Zeller and David Harris Smith, were not available for comment Tuesday but an update is expected Wednesday morning."

hitchbot-in-rhode-island.jpg
 
When this came up on my FB feed, someone had commented #botlivesmatter and IMO, that was pretty funny. IMO!
 

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