Piaggio unveils Gita, a cargo-carrying robot that follows pedestrians

Piaggio Fast Forward (PFF), a US-based subsidiary of the Italian scooter manufacturer, has unveiled Gita, a mobile cargo drone designed to follow pedestrians or cycle alongside them, carrying up to 40 pounds (about 18 kg) of personal belongings. The robot moves at up to 22 mph (35 km/h) and can navigate autonomously via a wireless map. The project is led by Jeffrey Schnapp, founder of Harvard's metaLAB and a digital humanities scholar, with an advisory board including MIT's Nicholas Negroponte and Google's Doug Brent and Jeff Linnell. PFF's team combines computer scientists, engineers, designers, architects, and artists, aiming to create objects that enhance human mobility rather than replace it. Schnapp stated, "We are developing products that augment and extend human capabilities, instead of trying to replace them." The first presentation to partners and press took place on February 2, 2017, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near PFF's headquarters in Somerville. Gita resembles a wheel and is intended to free people's hands while walking or biking, discouraging car use for small loads. The company hopes Gita will become a design classic like the Vespa.