Hitchbot’s journey comes to an abrupt end

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Canada’s most famous hitchhiking robot, Hitchbot, who captured the hearts of fans and followers worldwide, had his journey come to an end this weekend.

The McMaster and Ryerson University created robot that was traveling around the world, and most recently the United States, met it’s demise yesterday.

The world learned that Hitchbot’s travels ended after it was torn apart limb by limb in Philadelphia.

Frauke Zeller and David Harris Smith were sent photos of the vandalized robot yesterday. And with the battery dead, it can’t be tracked.

The kid-sized robot was on a road trip through the United States after successfully hitchhiking across Canada last year, plus a visit to Europe.

It was a unique social experiment “to engage people in conversation about our future.”

And Hitchbot took photos every 20 minutes to share with the world.

It started in Massachusetts, the finish line in San Francisco and a bucket list in between. Hitchbot crossed a couple items off, like New York City, but it only made it 2 weeks in and people are upset.

Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are flooded with outrage, angry that it’s been destroyed. Hitchbot relied on the kindness of strangers to get around. Zeller and Smith don’t know who did it or why, but with so many people caring, they believe there’s a happy outcome.

Supporters and fans have already set up a gofundme page to get the robot back out into the world, watching for when Hitchbot may return back to the road.

For now Zeller and Smith don’t know if Hitchbot will every make it back on the road. They say some parts of it have been rescued, but they are still missing the head. Though they aren’t sure if it will happen, they are hopeful to get him back out on the road again.