HitchBOT, the Hitchhiking Robot, Dies in Pennsylvania
HitchBOT the robot successfully hitchhiked across Canada last year. People would pick him up on the side of the road, strap him in and take him to a new destination. No problem.
Two weeks ago, he left Massachusetts (after taking in a Red Sox game) and was working his way to the west coast. He didn't get too far.
In Philadelphia on Saturday, HitchBOT was vandalized. Ripped from limb to limb and left in a smoldering heap. Welcome to America.
According to a statement from HitchBOT's research team:
"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."
Maybe HitchBOT should have taken some Martial Arts classes before he embarked on his journey.
[Source]