hitchBOT was decapitated on this week in Philly history

The robot was no match for Philadelphia.The child-sized figure with robot-like qualities was the brainchild of Canadian researchers in the mid-2010s.The goal was to try and better understand human-robot relationships, and to generally gauge how humans would interact with robots.He was carried across the Northeast by the kindness of strangers who were kept up to date through social media posts.Nicknamed hitchBOT, the oddity developed quite a following, moving through Netherlands, Germany, and Canada.When he hit the United States, he crossed through the northeastern part of the country over a two-week span.And he was making — and having — a good time. He took in a Boston Red Sox game, visited an aquarium, and was gleefully photographed in Times Square in New York.And then he arrived in Phila