The "robot suitcase" from California-based startup Travelmate can be controlled with a smartphone app and can roll alongside its owner at speeds up to 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) per hour, navigating around obstacles. "This is really a robot which follows you around," said Travelmate founder and president Maximillian Kovtun.
Travelmate designed the device - which integrates elements of artificial intelligence - to roll at a pace that matches that of the user, or it can be directed with the smartphone app in the same manner as a drone. Priced at around $1,100, it is slated to roll out in February for the US market, and later in Europe and Japan. A competing offering from ForwardX, a Chinese startup with offices in California, is designed to be used with facial recognition, without need for a smartphone application. "It uses computer vision and a driving algorithm to have a clear path," said founder Nicholas Chee, who showed a prototype at CES.
Chee said he expects the launch in mid-2018 at a price under $1,000. Both Travelmate and ForwardX say their devices comply with US safety regulations because their lithium-ion batteries, banned in checked luggage, can be removed. Also shown at CES was an auto-following suitcase from China-based 90FUN, which has been available in the Chinese market and is soon coming to America. It uses self-balancing technology from the personal transport maker Segway.