Technology is rapidly evolving and changing the way that we go about living our daily lives. We’re living in an era were phones are able to do thousands of different things and cars can drive by themselves. Yet for all of this innovation, traveling and carrying things with you has remained relatively the same over the last couple of decades. Luggage hasn’t benefited from the rapid technological advances of the 21st century.
That is until now. Travelmate is a new type of robot that doubles as an affordable self moving suitcase. It moves by itself and thinks for itself thanks to a variety of sensors and integrated artificial intelligence. It’s fully autonomous, meaning that it moves on its own through all types of terrain. Travelmate easily navigates through crowds, uneven environments and other obstacles.
This robot doesn’t need any extra accessories and uses your smartphone’s location to follow you around. It adjusts to your speed and can go up to 6.75 mph, so it’ll never be far behind. It also has LED indicators which will show you where it’s planning to go.
David Near, Travelmate’s CEO, says that, “one of our top priorities is to make sure that Travelmate is as secure as possible”. That’s why you can see exactly where it is at all times through the Travelmate app on your smartphone. If someone else wants to take your Travelmate, it will sense that it isn’t following you anymore and will lock its wheels, which will prevent it from being moved. You can also activate audible alarms through the Travelmate app. These security features mean that it’s virtually impossible to lose it.
Travelmate has plenty of features. It has managed to re-invent the wheel – literally. Travelmate uses unique omni wheels that allow for precise adjustments in movement. It has such an incredible range of movement that it can turn 360 degrees without moving from its place.
You can tell your Travelmate to follow you from the side, from the front or from the back through the Travelmate application.
Travelmate is an autonomous suitcase, but it’s also the first affordable all purpose robot. It has the potential for hundreds of features and real world applications. It can be a camera operator, security robot, or a robot companion. There’s no limit to the potential that Travelmate has.
That’s in large part due to the team behind this one of a kind suitcase. Travelmate Robotics was formed as a separate company to launch consumer robots at an affordable price point. They’ve been developing Travelmate for over a year before officially announcing it. Their team consists of developers who have been manufacturing autonomous commercial robots for 8 years. They include robotics specialists, designers and even people who’ve worked on prototypes for space exploration rovers.
So it’s no wonder why Travelmate is so innovative and unique. You can pre-order a Travelmate right now through indiegogo at a starting price point of 399$. However, this price might not last long, because distributors are already in contact with Travelmate Robotics.
Distributors in more than 30 countries are already in negotiations to carry their suitcase in their stores. What that means is that pre ordering now may be your only chance to get one at such a low price. David Near says that, “we’re very happy that investors and distributors have expressed interest in our company. We are always open towards new partnerships and proposals”.
In any case, traveling is about to get a whole lot easier. Technology is constantly moving us forward and Travelmate is at the forefront of that.