Suitcase Robot

A class of autonomous navigation robots housed inside a rolling suitcase or carry-on-shaped enclosure, designed so that a blind or low-vision user can grip the handle and be guided to a destination while appearing to any onlooker to simply be walking with a piece of luggage. The form factor was chosen specifically to address two concerns: reducing the social stigma that accompanies visibly assistive devices (the "loss of obscurity" problem), and leveraging a shape that naturally encounters stairs or curbs ahead of the user. The category originated with CaBot at Carnegie Mellon and is exemplified by IBM's AI Suitcase. Suitcase robots typically combine LiDAR, depth cameras, and BLE/UWB localisation with a handle-grip safety sensor and vibration-based turn cueing, and require facility-side mapping and permissions to operate.