Piaggio’s Gear-Hauling Robot.

Since the dawn of time, man has been looking for a way to not have to carry all the stuff that he needs. From spouses and children to beasts of burden, we’ve been looking for a way to lighten our load. Yet, for some reason we still have backpacks and suitcases—even if they do have wheels.

Piaggio is jumping in on that game. The company perhaps best know for the Vespa had its Fast Forward design studio look into the challenge of carrying stuff, and what they came up with was the gita mini—a little robot that has the sole purpose of carrying your gear.

The US$1850 Gita Mini measures 46cm x 42cm x 49cm and weighs a meagre 12,7kgs. It can carry up to 9 kilograms—roughly the same amount as one grocery bag. It has got a top speed of 9.65km/h.

The US$3475 Gita Plus measures 63.50cm x 55.87cm x 65.53cm and weighs 22,67kgs. It can carry up to 18.1 kilograms—roughly the same amount as 2 big grocery bags. It has got a top speed of 9.65km/h as the small Gita robot.

To get around, the Gita robots employ cameras, radars, and advanced algorithms to avoid obstacles and to follow you like a well-trained dog. They work on two wheels and has a battery life of seven hours, which gives it a range of 34 kilometers. The robots can get over obstacles although the steps are still a problem.