Human-tracking helper robot will carry your heavy luggage

The Budgee is a robot that carries heavy objects for its owner and follows them around automatically.

If inventors can create a robotic suitcase that automatically follows its owner around the airport — as Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez has with the hop! — it stands to reason that such technology could have other applications. Sure enough, the Budgee is a robot that has been designed to help owners carry heavy objects wherever they go.

The device consists of a small platform and basket, with a three-wheel system that can help it move in any direction. Weighing 20 lbs, the robot buddy can help its owners carry up to 50 lbs worth of baggage and is able to follow them through ultrasonic signals that are transmitted from a portable device that can be carried in a pocket or clipped to clothing. The Budgee can run on its batteries for between four and six hours at a time, enough for trips to the supermarket or following students around campus with heavy books. According to its developers, Five Elements Robotics, it also greets its owners and helps to cheer them up each day with pithy phrases.

Five Elements hopes to launch a Kickstarter in the near future to help bring the Budgee to market, where it is set to retail at around USD 1,399. How else can small robots make everyday tasks easier?

Spotted by Jennifer Low, written by Springwise