In olden times, humans used donkeys to move things around and for good reasons. Unlike carts which are basically inanimate objects, donkey follows its master as it is being tugged around, which kind of makes it the robot of past. Today, we have no such luxury, but thanks to a South Korea startup, Omorobot, we may have found the donkey of the 21st century, well, in a manner of speaking. Meet DonkiBot, the modern day ‘donkey’ that behaves pretty much like a real donkey. Like the flesh and blood mule, DonkiBot will follow you as you move around, carrying whatever that’s needed to be carried in a generously sized basket.
Equipped light detection sensor or LIDAR, DonkiBot gauges its distance from the object, which is you, and follows as you make your way to your destination. However, there’s an odd caveat here: DonkiBot requires a tethered remote which you will have to pull to keep the DonkiBot moving behind you. You don’t actually tug it with force; all you need is to keep the line extended while it leverages on the LIDAR to maneuver steps behind you. Even more strangely is, the remote can be detached, allowing you to use it to remotely control it around much like a remote control car.
I know how it sounds; it sounds rather counterintuitive and makes you question what’s the difference between a regular trolley and the DonkiBot? Well, I guess DonkiBot is born out of the desire to create a device that works much like a mule and mule does not need to be pushed (like a cart) to get moving (except maybe on occasions, a dangling carrot). Also, it probably cost the same, if not more than a real donkey.
Speaking of cost, if you subscribe to Omorobot’s idea of modern day, ‘robotic donkey’, you can pledge at least $698 to back the campaign and keep your fingers crossed that it meets its set funding goal. I am not going to lie. I think it would be a hard sell, more so when Omorobot’s target is half a million. It is hard to justify 700 bucks for what is essentially a motorized trolley.
Kickstarter via Technabob
