HitchBOT, Canada's hitchhiking robot, finished its 3,870-mile journey across the country on Thursday.
The journey began on July 27 in Halifax, Nova Scotia and ended in Victoria, British Columbia on Sunday, according to NBC News. However, it wasn't until Thursday that the robot reunited with its co-creators Frauke Zeller, an assistant professor in the School of Professional Communication at Ryerson University, and David Smith, an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies and Multimedia at McMaster University.
The robot was greeted at Victoria Harbor on Sunday by residents looking to hold a party for the machine.
"HitchBOT is kind of like a space shuttle - a lot of markings, people have signed it," Smith said. "It has this aura, originality, authenticity, and has actually developed a kind of value."
Zeller and Smith created HitchBOT as a way to study how robots are viewed by society and whether robots could depend on people the same way humans depend on robots, and each other, ABC News reported. The robot was built with a head in a transparent cake saver, placed on top of a plastic beer pail, wrapped in a solar panel, and was given swimming pool floats for arms and legs. It also wore yellow latex gloves and rubber boots.
"Our aim is to further discussion in society about our relationship with technology and robots," Zeller said.
The success of the trip came from strangers who were kind enough to give the robot a ride. HitchBOT posted images on Twitter of forests, mountains and prairies along the way, and made stops to fish and camp. It even stopped to attend a wedding and an aboriginal pow wow.
The researchers held a party at the Open Space Gallery in Victoria on Thursday in celebration of HitchBOT's journey across Canada, CTV News reported. The robot has also been invited to attend a technology conference in Silicon Valley next month as a VIP guest.
In the meantime, Zeller and Smith are planning future journeys for HitchBOT.
