Piaggio, the Italian company that makes Vespa scooters and Moto Guzzi motorcycles, is building a personal delivery device or “cargo robot,” called the Gita(pronounced “jee-ta”).

Piaggio, the Italian company that makes Vespa scooters and Moto Guzzi motorcycles, is building a personal delivery device or “cargo robot,” called the Gita(pronounced “jee-ta”).

According to Piaggio, its a 22 inches tall Ball shaped robot that allows you to store items and has an assortment of cameras to help it navigate.

Gita also has a small compartment which can be accessed via a hatch on top, and can carry up to 40 pounds. Further, the bot can tell where to go by Wi-Fi-connecting to a special camera-equipped belt worn by its owner. Although the smart porter can carry laptops, books and a DSLR all together, Piaggio is also working on a larger version of the bot, called the ‘Kilo’. This one is more than twice as long and can handle up to 200 pounds.

 

The product promises.  “Despite the noise and the press that triggered the shipments by drones, announced by Google and Amazon, the most serious proposal comes from the hand of the new creation of androids that are going to cover the pavement of the world”.

Gita is a robot to carry cargo, has a capacity of 40 pounds (18 kilos). Inside there is a row of 15 bottles of wine or about 200 grams of cheese. Operates in two modes: on the one hand, you can follow your human operator, who must wear a wearable , in this case it is a belt. In the second mode, it can move by itself, autonomously. So, in a place where Gita has already been – suppose you walked around your house or office – you can designate specific points: the main door or back, the kitchen, etc, and Gita will be able to go to any Of those points by itself.

Piaggio have released two models of robots.

What is the difference between them?

Gita comes in 4 colors and can carry 18 kilos. The larger version is called Kilo, we just released it, it is in an early stage of prototyping. This model can carry up to 113 kilos. So the difference is in the load capacity and in that Kilo has 3 wheels and two Gita, so it self balances, while Kilo is already balanced.

.Image result for Meet Gita, your cargo-carrying robot porter

-What does “Gita” mean?

It means “short excursion” in Italian. We chose this name for the robot because it is capable of making short trips.

We imagine more pedestrian cities and in that we focus for the future
– Does this type of product favor people walking more or moving by bike?

Yes, because if you have to buy a few wines or beer packs, even if the store is only 3 blocks away, you probably take the car because you can not carry it in your hands. But if you have something like Gita, you can go on foot, bike or skateboard to the winery and Gita can accompany you home with things. Something very good is that it can follow you at the same speed as you go, since you can go to the rhythm of a walk, a trot or a bicycle (up to 35 km / h).

-What would happen to Gita in countries like ours where it is difficult to walk, because of the bad state the paths?

At this stage of development, the good thing about Gita is that it can move both outdoors and indoors. Imagine if you could have either of these robots assisting you with luggage at the airport. There are a lot of places with controlled environments in which one needs to carry things, and not necessarily outside, in the sidewalks. In the USA Gita crosses the streets using the disabled ramps. Its wheels are very similar to those of wheelchairs. So, basically, where a wheelchair can go, you can go Gita.

http://piaggiofastforward.com/