Hitchhiking Robot Sets Out on Epic Journey Across Canada

Can a robot travel nearly 4,000 miles relying solely on the kindness of human strangers?

Image: The anthropomorphic robot named hitchBOT sits on the shoulder of Highway 102 to begin its 6000 kilometer cross country journey outside of Halifax

An anthropomorphic robot named hitchBOT sits on the shoulder of Highway 102 outside of Halifax, Nova Scotia to begin its cross-country journey, July 27, 2014.Paul Darrow / Reuters

July 28, 2014, 10:13 AM UTC / Updated July 28, 2014, 10:16 AM UTC

A hitchhiking robot has set out on a 3,870 mile journey that will see it travel across Canada relying solely on the kindness of human strangers.

HitchBOT, which began its epic voyage outside Halifax on Sunday, is undertaking the journey as part of a social experiment to see if it can arrive in one piece at an art gallery in Victoria, British Columbia.