Robotic suitcase prototype promises to ease travel

A robotic suitcase designed to follow travellers around relieving them of the need to carry their luggage may change the wary people travel.

The suitcase, called Hop, drives itself and allows owners to walk unburdened by the weight of their bags.

The prototype hitches to a Bluetooth signal from the  owner's phone and tails it, a short but constant distance. In the event of loss of signal - a real possibility - the suitcase locks to make itself secure.

A break in signal with the suitcase makes the phone vibrate to alert the owner to the fact the suitcase has dropped out of range.

Bags can be programmed to follow each other in a line and it is expected they could make conveyor belts and luggage carts in airports a thing of the past one day.

The brainchild of Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez, the design is undergoing improvement, but has been entered for the James Dyson Award, an international student design prize to be announced later this month.