HitchBot is a hitchhiking robot created by researchers at McMaster University and Ryerson University to interact with humans. In 2014, HitchBot successfully hitchhiked across Canada over 10,000 kilometers in under a month by obtaining 19 rides from strangers. HitchBot later attempted to hitchhike across the US in 2015 but was vandalized in Philadelphia and had to end its trip. The creators view this as a setback but not a failure, as they plan to send HitchBot on future adventures.

1. By Jacob Newberger

2. Introduction
 Jacob Newberger currently serves as an automation validation
engineer with Panacea Technologies, Inc., in Montgomeryville,
Pennsylvania. His work as an engineer has led Jacob Newberger
to develop an interest in the field of robotics.
Designed and released to the world by creators Dr. David Smith
and Dr. Frauke Zeller, hailing from McMaster University and
Ryerson University, respectively, hitchBot is a robot designed to
interact with humans as a hitchhiking automaton. The robot
spent the summer of 2014 making a self-guided trip across
Canada from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Vancouver, British
Columbia. The robot managed to obtain 19 rides from strangers,
covering 10,000 kilometers in less than one month.

3. hitchBot
 The resounding success of the robot’s first mission led
to subsequent trips through Germany and the
Netherlands before hitchBot came to rest for several
months. In the summer of 2015, hitchBot attempted to
hitchhike across the United States, setting off from
Salem, Massachusetts, with a final destination of San
Francisco’s Exploratorium. Unfortunately, the robot
ran into trouble in the city of Philadelphia, where one
or more individuals vandalized the machine to the
point of disrepair. The hitchBot team does not
consider the mission a failure and has plans to
continue hitchBot adventures in the future.