Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




ROBO SPACE
Hitchhiking robot thumbs its way across Canada
by Staff Writers
Ottawa (AFP) Aug 01, 2014


A talking robot assembled from household odds and ends is hitchhiking thousands of kilometers across Canada this summer as part of a social experiment to see if those of its kind can trust humans.

Society is "usually concerned with whether we can trust robots," Frauke Zeller, co-creator of the "hitchBot," told AFP.

Hollywood movies like "The Terminator" and "The Matrix" often depict machines as enemies of mankind, according to the assistant professor at Toronto's Ryerson University.

But, she noted, quite the opposite is true of hitchBot.

"This project turns our fear of technology on its head and asks, 'Can robots trust humans?'" Zeller said.

"Our aim is to further discussion in society about our relationship with technology and robots, and notions of safety and trust."

Zeller and fellow professor David Smith of McMaster University, along with a team of specialists, designed hitchBot to be fully dependent on people.

"It cannot achieve its task of hitchhiking across Canada without the help of people, because it cannot move by itself," she said.

And hitchBot certainly has what it takes to charm its way into people's hearts.

It can strike up a conversation and can answer trivia questions by consulting information using its built-in computers.

And it will even tell you when it's tired and in need of recharging from your car's cigarette lighter.

HitchBot has what has been described by Canadian media as a "yard-sale aesthetic," built for about $1,000 from parts found in a typical Canadian home or hardware store.

It has an LED-lit smiley face wrapped in a transparent cake saver set atop a plastic beer pail wrapped in a solar panel, with swimming pool noodles for limbs.

Its feet are rubber boots and it wears yellow latex gloves -- including one with its thumb extended to show it wants to catch a ride.

The automaton's design couldn't be too heavy because it had to be manually lifted into a car.

The robot also had to be small enough to fit into the backseat of a car but still have enough heft so it would not be blown over by a gust of wind while hitchhiking on the side of the road.

And it had to be resistant to chilly temperatures common during Canadian late summer nights.

"It had to be sturdy but also appealing to people," Zeller said.

"We wanted people to feel like, 'Yeah, I should stop to help that robot.'"

And that's exactly what's been happening.

It began its trip on July 27 in Canada's Atlantic port city of Halifax, after being picked up by an elderly couple in a camper van.

They handed it off after a night in the Canadian outback to three young men from Quebec province.

HitchBot then zipped through eastern Canada to Toronto for a brief check-in with its creators before hitting the road again. It is ultimately headed for the country's westernmost city of Victoria -- more than 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) from its starting point.

- Rooting for hitchBot -

The trip is being documented on social media (www.hitchBot.me), allowing people around the world to connect with the robot.

Less than 24 hours after it began its journey, it had already snapped up 12,000 followers on Twitter, including one fan who posted a photo of a cardboard box look-alike.

By Friday, the number of Twitter followers was nearly 20,000.

"Everyone is rooting for it," Zeller said.

"It's an interesting phenomenon -- people are developing attachments to the robot, including many who (will) never meet hitchBot, but are following it on social media."

Once its travels are over, researchers will analyze comments posted on Twitter and Facebook to see what they can surmise about the public's attitudes concerning robot-human interactions.

With growing use of mechanical humanoids in space, manufacturing and everyday life, "it's becoming more important to explore our relationship with robots -- especially if they come into our households," Zeller said.

Particularly interesting, she added, is the question of whether robots will be seen as disposable as they age and break down.

"What do we do when they will need to be repaired?" Zeller said, suggesting that some people may become attached to the little humanoids and will "keep and cherish" them.

"Do we repair them, or will they become just another convenient item that we can throw away?" she asked.

"We have to study all of that to ensure it works out right."

.


Related Links
All about the robots on Earth and beyond!






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








ROBO SPACE
Japanese leader proposes first-ever 'Robot Olympics'
Moscow (Voice of Russia) Jul 24, 2014
Nations of the world will be sending their most talented athletes to Tokyo in 2020 for the Olympic Games - but if Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gets his way, they might also be pitting robots against each other. Abe announced his vision while touring robotics factories in Tokyo and Saitama, which is located just north of the country's capital. According to Japan's Jiji Press (translat ... read more


ROBO SPACE
August supermoon will be brightest this year

Manned Moon Mission to Cost Russia $2.8 Bln

Tidal forces gave moon its shape

Riddle of bulging Moon solved at last

ROBO SPACE
NASA Mars Curiosity Rover: Two Years and Counting on Red Planet

Robotic Rock Climbers Could Uncover Clues to Mars' Past

Russia To Construct Landing Pad For ExoMars Mission

NASA Mars Rover Curiosity Nears Mountain-Base Outcrop

ROBO SPACE
NASA's Space Launch System Boosters Office Completes Critical Design Review

NASA, Navy Prepare for Orion Spacecraft to Make a Splash

Orion spacecraft recovery practiced at sea

NASA Upgrades Its 3-D Spacecraft App

ROBO SPACE
China's Circumlunar Spacecraft Unmasked

China to launch HD observation satellite this year

Lunar rock collisions behind Yutu damage

China's Fast Track To Circumlunar Mission

ROBO SPACE
Robonaut Upgrades, Spacewalk Preps and Cargo Ops for ISS Crew

US EVAa Delayed; Crew Preps For Russian EVA, Robonaut Upgrades

Europe's Fifth and Final Resupply Ship Launches to Station

Science and Spacesuit Work While ATV-5 Preps for Launch

ROBO SPACE
US Launches Two Surveillance Satellites From Cape Canaveral

United Launch Alliance Marks 85th Successful Launch

US aerospace firm outlines New Zealand-based space program

China to launch satellite for Venezuela

ROBO SPACE
Planet-like object may have spent its youth as hot as a star

Young binary star system may form planets with weird and wild orbits

Hubble Finds Three Surprisingly Dry Exoplanets

Astronomers come up dry in search for water on exoplanets

ROBO SPACE
Disney develops tool to design inflatable characters and structures

NASA Experts, Russia Sign Radiation Safety Protocol Despite Sanctions

New material structures bend like microscopic hair

Military training and simulation revenues to remain steady




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.