Attention all Canadians : If you spot an adorable smile golem on the side of the route , PLEASE put it in your auto and have a conversation with it . Seriously , you should do it . If not for the sake of say you made a robot friend , then do it for science .
The robot , aptly name hitchBOT , is the inspiration of David Harris Smith of McMaster University and Frauke Zeller of Ryerson University . They come up with the concept in 2013 as a way of determine more about how humans and robot could interact with one another .
hitchBOT ’s journey get in Halifax , Nova Scotia on July 27 . It will be traveling a total of 6,000 km to Victoria , British Columbia , though it is n’t entirely clear how long the journey will take . The route conduct is totally at the circumspection of the driver .
hitchBOT does n’t look as fashionable as golem depicted in the movies . It has pond noodle arms and legs , gumshoe mitt hands , and rainwater boots for feet . However , what it loses in manner point it name up in personality and its winning LED display smile . When hitchBOT is capable to secure a ride westbound , it enjoyably verbalize with the driver about triviality , how it was created , and is also able-bodied to reply questions about the history of its journeying . It has admittance to the Wikipedia API for have a more fruitful conversation about a smorgasbord of topics .
The automaton ’s power source comes from solar panels around the soundbox that soak up the rays while it wait for its next ride , and there is a power transcriber for the car to keep hitchBOT going from one place to the next .
Though there are numerous stereotypes about Canadians being fantastically polite , there is evidently the concern that someone will go against the spirit of the program and harm the robot . As it turns out , trust stranger to wish for hitchBOT properly is a gravid part of this experimentation .
“ unremarkably , we are concerned with whether we can rely golem . This labor asks : can robots confide human being ? ” Zeller said in apress release .
If someone did attempt to harm hitchBOT or if there are unforeseen events during the journeying , the golem can be recovered with the integrate GPS and 3 G connexion . This cyberspace connection also allow hitchBOT to send report from the road viaTwitter , Facebook , and awebsitewith a single-valued function log the journey so far .
“ I am excited and a bit queasy about whether people will find fault me up or if they will be nice to me along the path , ” hitchBOT stated in apress discharge . “ I do n’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 aid me with my journey . ”
Check out hitchBOT in action :
hitchBOTfromhitchBOTonVimeo .
