Hitchhiking Robot That Crossed Nations Fails to Last 2 Weeks in U.S.

A hitchhiking robot eager to explore America has met its demise just two weeks into its cross-country journey.

HitchBOT was vandalized in Philadelphia overnight on Saturday after exploring parts of Massachusetts and New York, Canadian researchers David Smith and Frauke Zeller shared on the project’s website. The friendly robot, who sports yellow polka dot boots and a smiley-face LED screen, had hoped American humans would shuttle it around the country to see Times Square, pose with the Lincoln Statue and tour Walt Disney World, among other destinations on its bucket list.

“Sometimes bad things happen to good robots,” HitchBot’s creators wrote. “We know that many of hitchBOT’s fans will be disappointed, but we want them to be assured that this great experiment is not over. For now we will focus on the question ‘what can be learned from this?’ and explore future adventures for robots and humans.”

The hitchhiking robot is an experiment to see how humans interact with robots. HitchBOT previously journeyed across Canada and Germany without incident, in addition to enjoying a three-week vacation in the Netherlands.

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The new humanoid robots named "Otonaroid" and "Kodomoroid" are pictured during a press preview at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Technology in Tokyo on June 24, 2014.

Yoshikazu Tsuno—AFP/Getty Images

The new humanoid robots named "Otonaroid" and "Kodomoroid" are pictured during a press preview at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Technology in Tokyo on June 24, 2014.

Nicolas Datiche—SIPA

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Yoshikazu Tsuno—AFP/Getty Images

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Yoshikazu Tsuno—AFP/Getty Images

Inventor Le Trung celebrates Christmas with his robot Aiko on December 23, 2009 in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.

Barcroft Media

A model pokes the face of "Geminoid-F", a humanoid robot shaped to resemble the model at a press conference in Osaka, Japan on April 3, 2010.

Yoshikazu Tsuno—AFP/Getty Images

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Haruyoshi Yamaguchi—Corbis

A humanoid robot, HRP-4C, developed by Japan's Advanced Industrial Science and Technology shows off her skills during the Digital Contents Expo in Tokyo on October 22, 2009.

Yoshikazu Tsuno—AFP/Getty Images

A Nippon Dental University Hospital staff member demonstrates a humanoid robot dental therapy simulator named "Simroid" at the International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo on November 9, 2011.

Yoshikazu Tsuno—AFP/Getty Images

Andoroid Repliee Q2 (R) reacts as graduate student Motoko Noma touches her face at an exhibition during Core Technology Symposium in Tokyo on October 31, 2006.

© Kiyoshi Ota / Reuters—REUTERS

Andoroid Repliee Q2 (L) faces graduate student Motoko Noma (R) at an exhibition during Core Technology Symposium in Tokyo on October 31, 2006.

© Kiyoshi Ota / Reuters—REUTERS

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