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[np_storybar title=”Hitchhiking robot journeys alone across Canada to answer question: Can humans be trusted?

” link=”http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/07/28/hitchhiking-robot-journeys-alone-across-canada-to-answer-question-can-humans-be-trusted/”]

Read the full origin story of the HitchBOT here

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HitchBOT, the nomadic robot attempting to hitchhike its way across mainland Canada, saw its journey take a wrong turn on Tuesday as it attempted to reach Quebec.

The rubber dish glove-wearing device, made from a plastic bucket, solar panels and a tablet computer, is an experiment run by a team at McMaster University to see if people can be trusted to help the innocent robot reach its destination.

It is seeking to travel 5,600 kilometres by hitchhiking from Halifax to Victoria, without being destroyed or stolen.

While it’s still intact, progress was limited Tuesday. After it was picked up Monday afternoon from Campbellton, N.B, HitchBOT’s attached GPS unit showed that it travelled east — backwards towards Bathurst, N.B., along Highway 11, reaching halfway between Dalhousie and Bathurst.

It soon reversed its path, and checked into a campground near Dalhousie at some point. As of press time, hitchBOT had returned to the Campbellton Information Centre, still waiting for a kind stranger to take it in the direction of Quebec.

National Post