Servo - December 2015

“brotherly love” aspect of Philadelphia, many robot builders and programmers are offering their help with HitchBOT. “If we get the okay from the creators to repair or replace the needed parts for HitchBOT, we’ll be happy to do so,” executive director for the blog “The Hacktory,” Georgia Guthrie wrote.

Guthrie went on to say they understand if the HitchBOT team turns them down, and they may even build their own robot to finish out the experiment as a show of good faith. Many other members of the Philadelphia robotics and technology community offered their assistance, as well. The creators have seen an influx of builders and robotics hobbyists volunteering parts, time, etc., to help get HitchBOT back on his journey.

The creators of HitchBOT were not clear on his future, however. They haven’t decided whether a new HitchBOT 2.0 would be built or if they’ve already gathered what they wanted from the experiment. “As researchers, we wanted to know ‘can robots trust humans,’” commented Dr. Smith. It was an interesting concept, one that reverses the stereotypical, “will robots be our friends when they have AI” idea. “We’ve learned a lot about human empathy and trust. Everything we’ve learned will be borne out in the resulting research Dr. Smith stated that there were multiple routes that could be explored with the robot: rebuilding, retiring, or maybe sending it to schools and allowing them to devise explorations for him as he travels — like a robotic Flat Stanley.

Although the future is unknown, one thing is for sure: While he was exploring, he showed that nearly all humans are willing to assist someone in need. He was the size of a small child and unable to walk. When he needed help traveling, people stopped, loaded him into the car, and took him as far as they could.