Aug 02, 2014 |
Hitchhiking robot thumbs its way across Canada
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(Nanowerk News) 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.
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Society is "usually concerned with whether we can trust robots," Frauke Zeller, co-creator of the "hitchBot," told AFP.
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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.
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But, she noted, quite the opposite is true of hitchBot.
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"This project turns our fear of technology on its head and asks, 'Can robots trust humans?'" Zeller said.
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"Our aim is to further discussion in society about our relationship with technology and robots, and notions of safety and trust."
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![hitchBOT](id36765.jpg) |
This photo shows creators Dr. Frauke Zeller of Ryerson University and Dr. David Harris Smith of McMaster University with hitchBOT.
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Zeller and fellow professor David Smith of McMaster University, along with a team of specialists, designed hitchBot to be fully dependent on people.
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"It cannot achieve its task of hitchhiking across Canada without the help of people, because it cannot move by itself," she said.
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And hitchBot certainly has what it takes to charm its way into people's hearts.
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It can strike up a conversation and can answer trivia questions by consulting information using its built-in computers.
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And it will even tell you when it's tired and in need of recharging from your car's cigarette lighter.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The automaton's design couldn't be too heavy because it had to be manually lifted into a car.
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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.
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And it had to be resistant to chilly temperatures common during Canadian late summer nights.
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"It had to be sturdy but also appealing to people," Zeller said.
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"We wanted people to feel like, 'Yeah, I should stop to help that robot.'"
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And that's exactly what's been happening.
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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.
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They handed it off after a night in the Canadian outback to three young men from Quebec province.
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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.
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Rooting for hitchBot
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The trip is being documented on social media (www.hitchBot.me), allowing people around the world to connect with the robot.
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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.
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By Friday, the number of Twitter followers was nearly 20,000.
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"Everyone is rooting for it," Zeller said.
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"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."
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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.
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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.
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Particularly interesting, she added, is the question of whether robots will be seen as disposable as they age and break down.
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"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.
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"Do we repair them, or will they become just another convenient item that we can throw away?" she asked.
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"We have to study all of that to ensure it works out right."
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