Hitchhiking is illegal on turnpikes and generally frowned upon elsewhere in the commonwealth but one little guy has been making his way around the world doing just that.HitchBOT, a hitchhiking robot, is a seasoned traveler and Internet phenomenon and last Friday many Marblehead residents and visitors had the opportunity meet HitchBOT as it embarked on its cross-country tour of the U.S. en route to San Francisco.The pint size robot has a bucket for a body, foam noodles for its arms and legs and wears yellow rubber gloves and patterned rubber boots.He was created by two Canadian academics, Frauke Zeller, assistant professor of professional communication at Torontos Ryerson University and David Harris Smith, assistant professor in communication studies at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario as a social experiment.Zeller and Harris Smith met Marblehead resident Rhod Sharp Thursday, July 18, during launch party of sorts at the Peabody Essex Museum. Sharp wanted interview with HitchBOT for his BBC radio program and at this stage Zeller and Harris Smith had not yet made a final decision on the exact spot where HitchBOT would start its next cross-country tour, accept that it needed to be on the coast. Sharp suggested HitchBOT try thumbing for a ride out of Swampscott or Marblehead and the latter was chosen.On Friday morning HitchBOT, Zeller and Harris Smith came to Sharps home on Franklin Street for the interview and chose Front Street for the secret start location. HitchBOT was positioned at the junction of Front and Franklin streets, with its thumb raised skyward and San Francisco or bust written on its head.Last year HitchBOT thumbed its way across Canada, from Halifax Nova Scotia to Victoria, British Columbia covering over 10,000 kilometers in just 26 days and getting a total of 19 lifts. Since then it has visited Germany and taken a vacation in the Netherlands.HitchBOT is equipped with a GPS, which enables its creators to track its progress while artificial intelligence provides it with the ability to carry on limited conversation and tell people where it is. Sitting in Sharps living room HitchBOT said, I am in Marblehead. He also told Sharp he had a very appealing personality and asked him out on a date.Once HitchBOT was put in position on Front Street, it announced to the small crowd that came to see him off, I have changed my mind, however by then the die was truly cast. He was soon to be on his way.Designed as an experiment in social interaction, HitchBOT has a strong social media presence and is followed by over 30,000 people worldwide including the many people who took photographs at the Peabody Essex Museum party.Page 2 of 2 - Despite the local attention, HitchBOT"s first travelling companions out of town were quite slow to materialize. Zeller and Harris Smith were just starting to think about moving HitchBOT to a busier location when a large black SUV drove by and then came back and parked.Out came the Siess family who were visiting from Cologne, Germany. They recognized HitchBOT from an appearance on German TV and had a spare seat in their SUV. A deal was quickly struck and they agreed to give the robot its first ride to Gloucester and possibly on to New York, and off they went.According to HitchBOTs Facebook page, by press time, it reached Gloucester where it was taken out on a boat ride.To follow HitchBOTs adventures check out his website at http://www.hitchbot.me/ or his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/hitchbot.
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Source: http://marblehead.wickedlocal.com/article/20150723/NEWS/150728162
