Watch: Robot crosses Canada from coast to coast... hitchhiking

July 31, 2014   

Researchers in Canada, who want to test whether robots can be taught when to trust humans, have developed a special robot called Hitchbot (a hitchhiking computer), which has embarked on a journey entirely carried out by hitchhiking from kind-hearted people in Canada.

The robot roams the roads of Canada, speaking mostly English, but also some French - like many Canadians in areas that were under French control centuries ago.

Hitchbot reports its location using GPS sensors, which it transmits over cellular and other wireless technologies.

The data it transmits is published. On his official website. The robot also has Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts, through which it updates the world on its journey.

Hitchbot can communicate with drivers who pick it up from one place to another using a speech recognition engine. It also contains most of the English Wikipedia entries, so it can have conversations with drivers based on its 'knowledge'.

""Hello, I am  hitchbot and I are traveling across Canada, coast to coast, this summer, hoping to meet new friends, have interesting conversations, and see new places along the way. As you might have guessed, robots can't get driver's licenses yet, so I'll be hitchhiking all my way.  ""I'm already planning my trip with the help of my extended family, researchers in Toronto. ""If you see me from the other side of the road, don't be afraid to pick me up. In the meantime, you can follow my travels on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.".