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Hitchhiking robot embarking on coast-to-coast tour across US
MyWayNews ^ | Jul 17, 1:29 AM (ET) | By COLLIN BINKLEY

Posted on 07/17/2015 11:31:07 PM PDT by SaveFerris

BOSTON (AP) — With its thumb raised skyward and a grin on its digital face, the robotic creation of two researchers in Canada is about to start a hitchhiking journey across the U.S.

The humanoid robot named hitchBOT has already caught rides across Canada and in Europe, relying on the kindness and curiosity of strangers. But on Friday it starts its first U.S. tour, setting out from Salem, Massachusetts, with dreams of San Francisco ahead.

Along the way, it hopes to see some quintessential American sites, including Times Square, Mount Rushmore and the Grand Canyon.

The kid-size robot is immobile on its own, so it gets from place to place by being schlepped around by strangers. Travelers can pass it off to others they meet, or leave it at a gas station or shop. They can just leave it seated on its kickstand with its thumb raised.

(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.myway.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cannotdoaworsejob; hitchiking; homosexualagenda; robot; travel
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I say give it a teleprompter and let it run for POTUS.

No birth certificate? No problem. We got Adobe.

1 posted on 07/17/2015 11:31:07 PM PDT by SaveFerris
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To: SaveFerris
As for the U.S. trip, researchers don't know how long it will take, or what will happen along the way.

"We want to create something that has a bit of narrative to it, a sense of adventure," Smith said. "We don't really know what's going to happen."

It's a jungle out there. HitchBOT needs to be packing.

2 posted on 07/17/2015 11:49:22 PM PDT by Ezekiel (All who mourn the destruction of America merit the celebration of her rebirth.)
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To: Ezekiel

send the robot to downtown Baltimore and it’ll burn. By the time it gets to SF, there’ll be a fag robot waiting for it.


3 posted on 07/18/2015 12:03:19 AM PDT by max americana (fired liberals in our company last election, and I laughed while they cried (true story))
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To: SaveFerris
It's going to end up in pieces in some engineer's basement... so where is it right now? Just a little tweak in the programming and hardware and I could make the far more efficient Carjackbot.
4 posted on 07/18/2015 12:05:15 AM PDT by KarlInOhio (The 1st amendment is the voice and the 2nd is the teeth of freedom. Obama wants to knock out both.)
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To: SaveFerris

5 posted on 07/18/2015 12:10:10 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: max americana

Figure that thing will become a video sensation on the dark side of the ‘net long before it might get to SF. Probably have a marriage license too.


6 posted on 07/18/2015 12:12:04 AM PDT by Ezekiel (All who mourn the destruction of America merit the celebration of her rebirth.)
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To: dfwgator

For the robot, a little CCR

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0X1iQEzVJI


7 posted on 07/18/2015 12:13:23 AM PDT by SaveFerris (Be a blessing to a stranger today for some have entertained angels unaware)
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To: SaveFerris

How long before a Muslim puts a bomb by the side of the road with a smile painted on it?


8 posted on 07/18/2015 12:40:01 AM PDT by Arthur McGowan
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To: Ezekiel
John Waters wrote a great book, Carsick, about hitchhiking across the country. Story here.
9 posted on 07/18/2015 1:27:45 AM PDT by billorites (freepo ergo sum)
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To: billorites

Advise to “HitchBot”........

Avoid any large cities where street rats await vulnerable targets. There is a high possibility that your “inner workings” (electronics, etc.) will be stripped in some inconspicuous alley garage and resold on the black market.

A word to the wise.


10 posted on 07/18/2015 2:14:17 AM PDT by DaveA37
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To: billorites

I did it in 1984, all the way across I-10. It was memorable, for sure, but I wouldn’t hitchhike around the block now.


11 posted on 07/18/2015 4:02:55 AM PDT by Freestate316 (Know what you believe and why you believe it.)
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To: SaveFerris

It should only accept rides from self-driving cars...


12 posted on 07/18/2015 4:51:46 AM PDT by Izzy Dunne (Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus. Please help me spread by copying me into YOUR tag line.)
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To: SaveFerris

It better stay out of Detroit or it will be kidnapped by scrappers..........LOL!


13 posted on 07/18/2015 4:55:02 AM PDT by Hot Tabasco (<i>)
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To: Arthur McGowan
How long before a Muslim puts a bomb by the side of the road with a smile painted on it?

My first thought was to wonder the same thing.

14 posted on 07/18/2015 4:56:41 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: SaveFerris


15 posted on 07/18/2015 4:59:45 AM PDT by JoeProBono (SOME IMAGES MAY BE DISTURBING VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED;-{)
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To: Smokin' Joe

Presumably the people who built this thing have some brains—but they haven’t thought of the Muslim problem? They’re at a university, where they are not allowed to think negative thoughts about Muslims.

You can’t leave a briefcase on the shoulder of a highway without the bomb squad’s being called.

This is a doomed idea.


16 posted on 07/18/2015 5:05:35 AM PDT by Arthur McGowan
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To: SaveFerris

Piss poor robot it is

I saw it on TV and like a Tar Baby, it just sits there. It had no thumbs up or other activity to attract a passing motorist.


17 posted on 07/18/2015 5:08:36 AM PDT by bert ((K.E.; N.P.; GOPc.;+12, 73, ..... No peace? then no peace!)
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To: SaveFerris
[snip]

More than 30,000 people follow the robot on Twitter, and dozens have posted their own selfies with it. Researchers are culling data from social media to study how people interact with a robot that needs their help, unlike traditional robots designed to help them.

Among the chief questions researchers are asking, Zeller said, is whether robots can trust humans.

During past travels, the robot has attended a comic convention and a wedding, and it had its portrait painted in the Netherlands. It once spent a week with a heavy metal band.

The cross-country tour of Canada took 26 days, spanning more than 6,000 miles. As for the U.S. trip, researchers don't know how long it will take, or what will happen along the way.

"We want to create something that has a bit of narrative to it, a sense of adventure," Smith said. "We don't really know what's going to happen."

Pretty cool idea.

18 posted on 07/18/2015 5:15:18 AM PDT by Yardstick
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To: Arthur McGowan
Many moons ago, a friend ran over a jackrabbit near Dagmar, Montana. It was winter (-20 to -30 degrees), and he propped the carcass up so it froze, sitting on its haunches, one forelimb out like a hitch hiker, and the other tucked in to hold a sign he made out of cardboard that said "L.A."

He left it on the side of the road near the local bar, and when he came back, it was gone. No idea how far the critter went.

19 posted on 07/18/2015 5:15:46 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: Yardstick

Of course it’s more about people and social media than about the robot.


20 posted on 07/18/2015 5:17:40 AM PDT by Yardstick
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