Move over, drone makers. This company has created a cargo-carrying robot.
The Italian company behind the Vespa, Piaggio, has recently introduced “Gita,” a cargo robot. Designed by Boston-based internal startup Piaggio Fast Forward, its aim is to take the hassle out of lugging heavy items and doing mundane chores such as going to the grocery store.
Gita is a blue ball-shaped robot that features two wheels, a hard shell and a number of cameras and sensors. A human wears an electronic belt to guide it, but Gita can also roll autonomously in a pre-mapped area. As Gita follows its owner and gains exposure to various environments via its cameras and sensors, it creates a 3-D map of its surroundings using SLAM technology — Simultaneous Localization and Mapping. The more areas…