Man rewarded for finding Missing “Desert X” smart robot

Cathedral City man who found the missing Desert X smart robot was rewarded for his find.

“ShyBot,” a smart robot designed to avoid people, plants, and rocks, went missing from its Desert X art exhibition in Desert Hot Springs went missing in March 2017. ShyBot’s creators said they expected it to go missing just not as soon as it did.

The robot ventured off for a year on its own and was finally found over a year later by 31-year old Kyle Gomez from Cathedral City. Gomez randomly found the robot while off-roading.

Desert X officials are rewarding Gomez for the find.

“Because Kyle found “ShyBot” we are going to reward him with a $1,000 check, which is the reward we had announced when we put out the wanted “Shy Bot” battery dead or alive campaign,” said Jenny Gill, Desert X executive director.

A reward ceremony took place at Cathedral City City Hall Wednesday morning. Cathedral City Mayor Stan Henry, Desert X founder Susan Davis, and Gill all attended.