Journal Article
The Death and Lives of hitchBOT: The Design and Implementation of a Hitchhiking Robot
Leonardo article by David Harris Smith and Frauke Zeller on the design and implementation of hitchBOT as a hitchhiking social robot.
2017
Smith, D. H., & Zeller, F. (2017). “The death and lives of hitchBOT: The design and implementation of a hitchhiking robot.” Leonardo, 50(1), 77–78.
Abstract
In the early morning hours of 1 August 2015, as it waited for its next ride on a Philly park bench, unknown assailants destroyed hitchBOT. Arms torn from its body, legs broken, gutted of its electronics, it was left discarded in a park, minus its smiley-face LED head. Around the world headlines announced the death of a much-loved robot, children and adults shed tears, haters hated on Philadelphia, cartoonists and musicians paid tribute, journalists wrote obituaries and the publicly minded rallied to support a rebuild. The authors share the story of the life and times of their creation, hitchBOT the hitchhiking robot.