Piaggio Gita
The Piaggio Group presented GITA and KILO, the first projects developed by Piaggio Fast Forward (PFF), a company established and controlled by the Piaggio Group as an advanced American research centre for future mobility, last night in Boston, only minutes away from Harvard and M.I.T.
The Group thus explores the evolution of mobility, thinking about the future and expanding its vision to include a much broader range of technological solutions than its current core business. GITA is an autonomous vehicle designed to assist people. It carries up to 18 kg, observes, and communicates.
It can follow a person at speeds of up to 35 km/h, and knows how to move independently in a mapped environment. Spherical shape and clean design characterise its personality. KILO is the "big brother" of GITA, and thanks to a larger capacity it can transport up to 100 kg in its 120-litre compartment. It has extraordinary stability thanks to its three wheels.
The Piaggio Group once more anticipates the needs of a world where mobility of people and things is changing rapidly. GITA and KILO respond to the future needs of a new concept of mobility, light transport vehicles that restore the focus of innovation to people's needs, to ensure greater autonomy and better quality of life. With PFF the Piaggio Group conducts advanced research directly benefiting the development of its trademarks and products.
The presentation of GITA and KILO is the first result of this new research work performed in parallel with the Piaggio Group's continuing experiments for on-going development and improvement of the technology and safety of its current and future vehicles. Michele Colaninno, Chairman of PFF, commented, "To deeply understand people and their habits in order to meet their needs: this is the course that has led us to create GITA.
We understood that we have to create products in line with the needs of tomorrow's people, and we do it through people. This success story is all about people, and the PFF team confirms it. Young, enthusiastic people who are not afraid of challenges, a melting pot of different cultures and professions capable of creating the perfect combination of robotics, engineering, and design." Roberto Colaninno, Chairman and CEO of the Piaggio Group, declared, "The Piaggio Group, through the creation of PFF, looks again to the future, to young people, to future generations, and wants not only to be ready to face the challenges of this increasingly complex mobility scenario, but to be a leading agent of change. Innovation, research and curiosity are the foundations of this project and are its main drivers."
The revolutionary nature of GITA and KILO lies in their ability to provide support to people in the various activities that characterise their movements in everyday life, extending the limited operating range and carrying capacity of human beings. They are, in fact, conceived as a true platform for mobility, which can be customised and integrated to meet different needs in a multitude of scenarios. Piaggio Fast Forward PFF was founded in 2015 by the Piaggio Group as a pioneer in the sector of smart mobility for people and goods.
The company's mission is to help people to move better, further, faster, and more enjoyably. PFF builds robots and lightweight transportation solutions that travel behind, beside, and beneath people on the move. In the present era of machine intelligence, autonomy, and interconnectedness, PFF seeks to promote more vibrant cities filled with pedestrians, cyclists, and skaters whose mobility is enhanced by new varieties of smart vehicles. PFF is based in Boston, Massachusetts. PFF is guided by CEO Jeffrey Schnapp, together with Michele Colaninno (Chairman), Greg Lynn (Chief Creative Officer), Sasha Hoffman (Chief Operating Officer) and Beth Altringer (Chief Design Research Officer).
The PFF Advisory Board is composed of Roberto Colaninno (Chairman and CEO of Piaggio Group), Nicholas Negroponte (Founder of MIT Media Lab), John Hoke (Vice President, Global Design at Nike), Doug Brent (Vice President, Technology Innovation at Trimble) and Jeff Linnell (former Director of Robotics at Google).