Drivers on Canada’s highways may happen upon a chatty robot attempting to hitchhike across the country next month.
Known as hitchBOT, it will commence its coast-to-coast journey at the Institute for Applied Creativity at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) in Halifax; with a goal of reaching Victoria, the capital city of British Columbia.
Hitchbot will incorporate speech recognition, a social media and Wikipedia API, artificial intelligence technologies and 3G and wifi connectivity to help it on its journey. It will be able to continually call home with its location – so would-be thieves watch out.
“We expect hitchBOT to be charming and trustworthy enough in its conversation to secure rides through Canada,” says Dr. Frauke Zeller of Ryerson University; one of hitchBOT’s creators.
While the final design of hitchBOT is yet to be unveiled, Dr. David Harris Smith of McMaster University says it will look “like somebody has cobbled together odds and ends to make the robot, such as pool noodles, bucket, cake saver, garden gloves, Wellies, and so forth.” Hitchbot will be unable to move and will be entirely dependent on humans for transport.
According to the Toronto Star, hitchBOT’s batteries will be powered by solar panels covering the beer cooler bucket that will be its torso, and can also be recharged from car cigarette lighters or a standard power outlet – so hitchBOT might not just bum a ride, but some juice as well.
It was unknown at the time of publishing if hitchBOT will incorporate a death-ray, taser or any other weaponry; or if contingency plans are in place should it become self-aware on its journey and start plotting the enslavement of humanity.
Rather than being a research initiative of any kind, it’s being considered a collaborative art project. Further details of the hitchBOT project can be viewed here.
