While hitchhiking may not be considered the safest way of travelling for humans, it seems that it's even more perilous for robots.
A hitchhiking robot called hitchBOT started an epic journey to see the USA from Boston, but sadly his adventure came to an abrupt end in Philadelphia after he was vandalised.
hitchBOT was part of an experiment to see how human beings would interact with a robot.
The robot, who cannot walk and needs to be lifted in and out of the cars he travels in, had successfully completed similar journeys in Germany and Canada.
But the mean streets of Philadelphia appear to have been a step too far. It is not yet known who was responsible for the attack, but pictures have been posted on social media showing hitchBOT in a very bad state.
The researchers who built hitchBOT released the following statement:
hitchBOT’s trip came to an end last night in Philadelphia after having spent a little over two weeks hitchhiking and visiting sites in Boston, Salem, Gloucester, Marblehead, and New York City. Unfortunately, hitchBOT was vandalized overnight in Philadelphia; sometimes bad things happen to good robots. We know that many of hitchBOT’s fans will be disappointed, but we want them to be assured that this great experiment is not over. For now we will focus on the question “what can be learned from this?” and explore future adventures for robots and humans.
It is not clear whether the researchers behind the project plan to repair or rebuild hitchBOT.
Looking at the route map on hitchBOT's official website, one can see how dramatically the welly-wearing droid's trip was cut short.
But hitchBOT’s makers aren’t bitter. As the website states: "We have no interest in pressing charges or finding the people who vandalized hitchBOT; we wish to remember the good times, and we encourage hitchBOT’s friends and fans to do the same."
Breakdown Cover from 
