Travelmate is the first true fully autonomous suitcase. It works seamlessly in crowds, doesn't require any extra peripherals and you can buy it at a starting price of 399$. Travelmate integrates with your smartphone to accomplish complex tasks that no other suitcase can do. It can move vertically or horizontally with ease. You can put more items or perhaps another suitcase on top of Travelmate when it is traveling autonomously in horizontal mode. Travelmate navigates large crowds and is able to recognize and avoid objects as needed. As you can see in the video above, our suitcase is not just a concept – it is a real working model and all of the features demonstrated already work on the Travelmate autonomous robotic suitcase.

Travelmate is a fully working prototype. We are launching an indiegogo project to raise funds for commercial scale production, to expand our team and to establish distribution channels for Travelmate.  There are currently 3 different suitcase models, ranging from carry on sized to a large suitcase. Our goal is to make Travelmate practical, innovative and to bring the future to you. The prices that we are offering on indiegogo are lower than what we will price for retail, and that is because you are actually supporting the development of this project. If you decide to back Travelmate, then thank you very much for your support!

 

Travelmate isn't just a normal suitcase -- it's an autonomous robot companion that follows you wherever you go and makes traveling much easier. Our suitcase is smart enough to always follow you and avoid any obstacles in its way. Travelmate is perfect for any situation. It can carry your stuff for you when you're going to work, walking to school or rushing to the airport gate. Smart features like omni wheels and our Follow Me system means that Travelmate is at the cutting edge of AI and autonomous movement technology. The Follow Me system has built in sensors that detect as well as avoid obstacles like people and furniture. It uses the Travelmate application to follow you and to better pinpoint its location at all times.

 

 

In addition to fully autonomous horizontal and vertical modes, the Travelmate has a variety of useful features that other suitcases do not have. The battery that powers Travelmate can be easily removed and is charged with wireless technology. The battery can be used to charge almost all electronics through a USB port and a standard electrical outlet. In addition, the Travelmate suitcase features unique omni wheels that allow for unprecedented multi-directional movement. This is crucial for autonomous technology. Since the suitcase functions as a robot in practice, it uses AI and machine learning to optimize its movements and omni wheels allow for markedly increased stability and range of motion that cannot be achieved otherwise.

 

The Travelmate's autonomous functionality is unmatched and doesn't require any extra peripherals. All you need is the suitcase and your smartphone. Travelmate will follow you wherever you go. Whether you're at the airport, going to work or going to school; the Travelmate suitcase can help you carry luggage in a wide variety of situations.

Travelmate has a battery life of 4 hours when in full autonomous mode and up to 100 hours in stand by mode (meaning when you are using it like a normal suitcase). The electric motor and internal components that enable autonomous functionality take up almost no space in the suitcase, accounting for less than 5% of the suitcase's volume. Multi colored LED lighting is a feature on all Travelmate models and signifies your suitcase's battery level. You can customize or turn off all LED lighting through the Travelmate application.

The Travelmate suitcase features convenient directional indicators that show you exactly where it's going at all times. This is similar to turn signals in cars. We've also added a speaker that will inform you of obstacles and the suitcase's location – this feature is completely optional and you can turn it on or off in the Travelmate application.

In addition to autonomy, we've tried to differentiate ourselves with convenient features that most other smart suitcases do not have. The Travelmate has a unique handle that turns into a portable desk that you can use for laptops, books, documents and many other things. In addition, the Travelmate has an easily accessible separate compartment that allows you to store valuables that you might need to take out of the suitcase. This compartment is perfect for things like passports and portable electronics.

Travelmate is fully TSA compliant and our suitcase sizes are standardized. The smallest Travelmate is carry on sized and fits the specifications of all major airlines' requirements for carry on specifications. The Travelmate has a touch enabled lock system that uses your fingerprint to open your suitcase. In order to comply with TSA guidelines, we have also included a mechanism to manually open the suitcase. You can always add a separate lock to your suitcase for extra security.

(Omni wheels)

Travelmate includes a GPS chip that helps orient the suitcase and allows you to know the location of the suitcase at all times with the Travlemate smartphone application. You can remove the GPS chip and use it for other suitcases or attach it to other things that are easily lost. Most other smart suitcases have GPS integration, but none of them allow you to remove it easily. We will also include two extra GPS chips in all Travelmate models, so that you can conveniently track your belongings.

All Travelmate models will include a built in scale that will accurately measure the weight of your suitcase's contents. You'll never have to worry about over packing because Travelmate will conveniently display the suitcase's weight. You can switch between Kilograms or Pounds via the Travelmate application.

The Travelmate autonomous suitcase is fully functional and we have full app integration ready. Travelmate will constantly improve through machine learning. This is achieved by uploading movement data automatically to the Travelmate application; your suitcase will essentially become smarter and smarter as time goes on and more people have Travelmate suitcases. You can disable this feature in the app if you want to. After it releases, we have plans to update the free Travelmate application regularly to improve and add features. Eventually we want to add things like travel suggestions, airport information, airport gate information and much more to the application.

The vast majority of our team consists of robotics specialists and that's very evident when you look at the Travelmate's features. It's far more than just a suitcase. Travelmate has integrated adaptive AI that knows where it's going at all times and adjusts it's movement on the fly. Some examples of other practical applications for the Travelmate are using it as a guide for people who are visually impaired or as a robot friend who can respond to simple commands (you can turn this feature on or off). You can also mount a camera to the Travelmate which can be incredibly useful when you don't have anyone else to film you. We're also adding virtual reality integration to the Travelmate so that people can come with you on your adventures.  Our goal for Travelmate is for it to eventually become the first widely available and affordable robot companion. 

The Travelmate application is crucial for this. We're working hard to make it easy to use and feature rich. We think that the best way to make sure that your Travelmate always improves is to give you the freedom to do whatever you want with it. That's why we're making Travelmate open source, so that anyone can look at the underlying software and make improvements or think up of new features. This way, you can add new features to your Travelmate by looking through community mods that people have developed for the Travelmate application.  

Travelmate is constantly evolving and has actual artificial intelligence. This is a first for smart suitcases. Travelmate is truly autonomous and improves by looking at data from all other Travelmate suitcases to improve its movement, actions and response time. This principal has been applied before to other technology like Tesla cars, but we are the first to do it for suitcases. 

Since Travelmate is autonomous, you can even use it as an impromptu security guard. If you attach a camera to it, you can leave it to patrol your home even when you're not there. There is endless potential to implement more features like this and that's why we call Travelmate a robot companion.

 We've included a mount in all Travelmate suitcases which will allow you to attach cameras or virtual reality ready cameras to the suitcase. Because of this, you can use the Travelmate as your camera operator. This is perfect for video blogging or for recording yourself and your surroundings. 

You can attach a 360 degree VR camera to your Travelmate. 

• Make VR ready video blogs. You no longer need to hold anything in your hands to film yourself and your surroundings. Travelmate takes a full panorama of your life and follows you everywhere.

• Interact with your friends and bring them along with you. Attaching a camera to the Travelmate will allow you to take your friends with you wherever you go.

Currently, we're planning on releasing three different models, which essentially differ only in terms of size. You'll also be able to customize the color of your suitcase. Since this suitcase is your travel mate, you can name it through the Travelmate app and it'll show up on the suitcase's display.

- Travelmate S: The best carry on suitcase ever.

The S model is perfect for any situation and is sized to comply with all carry on specifications. This means that you can take it with you when you board a plane instead of checking it at the airline's kiosk. 

Dimensions: 

• Inches: 21.7 x 7.9 x 15.7
• Centimeters: 55 x 20 x 40

- Travelmate M: medium sized and perfect for traveling.

The aptly named M model is medium sized and is great for road trips, flights and every day situations. It's a jack of all trades and is great for most vacations.

Dimensions:

• Inches: 27.2 x 11.4 x 19.3
• Centimeters: 69 x 29 x 49

- Travelmate L: Large and unapologetic about it.

The L model is the largest model that we have. It's perfect if you're planning on a long trip or even for moving. If you can't decide on what to take with you, then why not take it all with the L model?

Dimensions:

• Inches: 29.5 x 12.2 x 20.5
• Centimeters: 75 x 31 x 52

- So Much Love Package: Get all three models!

The SML or So much Love package includes all three Travelmate models at an unbeatable price!

After the indiegogo campaign ends, we'll send out an email with a list of color options to all indiegogo backers who bought the Travelmate. All you need to do is reply with the color that you want for your suitcase. Please note that the Travelmate suitcase interior is not final and will be improved before release.

Our team consists of 26 people who work hard everyday to make Travelmate the best suitcase and robot companion around. Our team's background mostly consists of robotics development and software development. Our design philosophy is very much influenced by our background in those fields.

Leo Ryzhenko

President and team leader of Travelmate Robotics.

We're planning on delivering the Travelmate suitcase in June, 2017 for indiegogo backers. In order to make sure that we don't have any problems with availability, we're going to launch a month later for people who pre-order after the indiegogo campaign ends and for general retail. The primary reason that we decided to raise funds on indiegogo is because we need funds for distribution and large scale production. If you're an indiegogo backer, then no matter which model you buy, you'll be getting it at a lower price point. This is because you're contributing to the project's development and we're immensely grateful for that. After the indiegogo campaign ends, you'll still be able to pre-order the Travelmate directly on our website, but the price point will be 50$ higher for each model, so if you want to buy the suitcase anyway, then becoming an indiegogo backer makes a lot of sense. 

The reason that we chose the timeline specified above is because we don't want to have a situation wherein we endlessly delay this project. This way, you know exactly when you're getting your suitcase. There's been other smart suitcases on crowdfunding websites and they have promised delivery within a month or two after a project ends. Without exception, they have always delayed their project and that is a disingenuous way to go about things. The timeline for delivery that we set is very reasonable and you won't have to worry about delays. 

All code for Travelmate and its application will be completely open source. In addition, we will have approved mods in our application within a separate section of the Travelmate application. We think that doing this will foster a great community and improve Travelmate in ways that we can't even imagine.