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Famous hitchhiking robot gets ripped apart in Philadelphia

'Sometimes bad things happen to good robots.'

 

Marisa Kabas

Tech

Posted on Aug 2, 2015   Updated on May 28, 2021, 6:01 am CDT

This is why we can’t have nice things.

A hitchhiking robot named hitchBOT set off on a cross-country journey two weeks ago, starting in Boston. It successfully made it through the rough-and-tumble streets of Beantown, Gloucester, Marblehead, and New York City, only to get completely torn apart in Philadelphia. Et tu, City of Brotherly Love?

It explain what happened on its blog: “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.”

This is believed to be a photo of how hitchBOT was found after its vicious attack.

The family who created hitchBOT also shared a message of regret about how things went down on its American tour:  

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.

Farewell, sweet hitchBOT. We patiently await your next adventure and apologize for our savage countrymen.

H/T Gizmodo | Photo via @hitchbot/Instagram

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*First Published: Aug 2, 2015, 3:31 pm CDT