'Don't kill it!': Runaway robot IR77 could be de-activated because of 'love for freedom'

The'Promobot' (promotional robot) from the company of the same name recently made another attempt to escape its testing grounds, and its creators now believe the bot's memory has to be replaced to remove the machine's "love for freedom." "We've cross-flashed the memory of the robot with serial number IR77 twice, yet it continues to persistently move towards the exit," Ura media outlet cites Promobot's co-founder, Oleg Kivokurtsev, as saying. He noted that other robots don't act the same way and generally toe the line by moving along their planned routes. "We're considering recycling the IR77 because our clients hiring it might not like that specific feature," Kivokurtsev added. The IR77 robot escaped from a testing area in Perm, a city not far from the Urals, and made it on to a busy junction, baffling passersby but also disturbing traffic, the Promobot company reported on June 14.