附近上门

In 1969, Buzz Aldrin鈥檚 boots hit the lunar surface just 63 years after the Wright brothers鈥� first flight at Kitty Hawk.

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But it wasn鈥檛 until 1970 that Bernard Sadow had the bright idea to put wheels on a suitcase and two years later. In 1987, a Northwest Airlines pilot and hobbyist tinkerer named Robert Plath , the classic two-wheeled 鈥渃arry-on鈥� form factor most of us are familiar with today. Four-wheeled 鈥渟pinner鈥� luggage only came to market in the early 2000鈥檚.

It took over 45 years, but eliminating the need for a pull-handle is one small step for a suitcase and one giant leap for luggage-kind.

offers a solution to a problem few of us knew we had: namely, dragging a suitcase around.

According to the company, its $799 (MSRP), ten pounds, GPS and 3G-enabled carry-on is the first fully-autonomous suitcase that follows alongside its owner, totally hands-free. What technology enables this spooky action at a distance, you ask? Its 鈥渟ide-follow鈥� feature is driven by a combination of visual simultaneous localization and mapping (, for acronym aficionados) and computer vision algorithms to control its motors and steer the device.

With a removable battery and approved locking mechanism, the device is, for now, compliant with TSA and other air safety regulatory requirements.

Today, the Beijing-headquartered company formally announced a $10 million Series A round co-led by and . Prior to the funding announced today, the company raised $1 million in an angel round closed in December 2016 shortly after its inception. This round would bring the company鈥檚 total venture funding to $11 million USD. The company has launched a pre-order campaign to further finance initial production.

ForwardX Robotics will use its capital to drive three key initiatives: further develop its computer vision and self-driving technologies; expand operations in China and at its newly-opened San Jose office; and 鈥淸support] the company鈥檚 other consumer products and warehouse self-driving vehicles initiatives,鈥� according to a statement from a spokesperson.

附近上门 News has previously covered the funding landscape of autonomous vehicle technology, but, admittedly, we didn鈥檛 anticipate that it would trickle all the way down to self-driving suitcases. To be sure, it sounds like the Ovis may be a first step for ForwardX Robotics toward a broader portfolio of autonomous vehicles; however, such an amusing entry into the market won鈥檛 soon be forgotten.

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