In many modern cities designed with cars in mind, life without one can be inconvenience. Daily tasks like shopping can become tiring and time-consuming chores. A new European initiative is hoping to engineer a solution that fits in the sweet spot between aerial drones and cars.
Piaggio Fast Forward (PFF) aims to pioneer the intelligent movement of people and goods, and is an initiative of the Piaggio Group motorcycle conglomerate. It was co-led through product launch by Beth Altringer, Senior Preceptor in Innovation and Design at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS).
The startup's first product, called Gita, is an autonomous mobile cargo robot engineered to accompany an individual as they navigate through complex indoor and outdoor spaces. The round robot is slightly less than a metre in height. It trails the user, creating a 3D map of its surrounding using sensors.
While the robot is designed to follow the human and carry their cargo and load, it can also use its maps to travel autonomously between waypoints in areas it has previously explored. The sensors and mapping functionality allows it to detect and avoid obstacles along the way.
According to Altringer, Gita is specifically designed for neighbourhood-scale distances, and to carry the most common loads of cargo. The robot is able to carry over 18kg of cargo for humans in a space about the size of a case of wine.
"Most human cargo is about the size of two large shopping bags—much smaller than the cargo space inside a car," Altringer explained. "If we want to encourage people to walk more, and to be more car-free, we need to find new ways to help them manage cumbersome loads as they move comfortably around town."
A major focus for the researchers was to keep each design element user-friendly. Coloured LED strips on the wheels indicate whether the robot is operating normally, or having a technical issue. The robot includes an intuitive touch-screen for human-computer interaction, and it will follow a user at the touch of a single button.
The large, bicycle-like wheels are designed to operate in indoor, outdoor, and irregular surface areas. Gita has maximum speeds of 35.4km/h, matching the full range of human mobility, from a leisurely jaunt to a vigorous bike ride.
The team is now working on fine-tuning Gita, and will continue rolling out upgraded versions of the robot, while identifying opportunities for new features.