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Updated Piaggio Gita Personal Robot Porter

The Gita personal cargo robot companion from Piaggo has gotten a nice update, and I'm glad they're still pursuing (or are being pursued!) by their dream robot (see my 2017 article Piaggio Gita Personal Robot Porter with more details about the company).

As science fiction readers know, writer John Brunner nailed this one in his 1975 novel Shockwave Rider - he called it the auto porter:

...he nabbed an autoporter and - after consulting the illuminated fee table on its flank - credded the minimum: $35 for an hour's service...

From now until his credit expired the machine would carry his bag in its soft plastic jaws and follow him as faithfully as a well-trained hound, which indeed it resembled, down to the whimper it was programmed to utter at the 55-minute mark, and the howl at 58...
(Read more about Brunner's autoporter)

For the many fans of the fantasy genre, Terry Pratchett nailed it in his novel Color of Magic:

(The Colour of Magic cover)
(Read about Luggage)

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