Image: Segway-Ninebot
BEIJING – Late last week, Segway-Ninebot held a new product launch to showcase new products with the theme of “AI-powered mobility.” The new products include the KickScooter T60, Powered By Segway; the Segway DeliveryBot S2; and the Segway Outdoor DeliveryBot X1.
In a statement, the company said the new products “highlights the company’s continued advancement in its product development, as well as new innovation by incorporating artificial intelligence.”
“In the upcoming decade, the world will become more ‘alive’ with intelligent things,” said Luke Gao, founder and CEO of Segway-Ninebot, which was created in in 2015 as a strategic partnership between Bedford, N.H.-based Segway and Beijing-based Ninebot. “Global IoT is a pivotal direction of technology and business development. This sub-network of autonomous delivery robots will play a pivotal role in the Internet of Things. Segway-Ninebot is a smart mobility enterprise with mature robotics technology from years of experience. Owning strong products with healthy productivity, excellent cost and quality control, Segway-Ninebot is innovating the AI-powered mobility today.”
T60 powers short-distance transportation
The KickScooter T60 can autonomously navigate back to its charging station when users are finished. Image: Segway-Ninebot
The company first showed off its KickScooter T60, which has the ability to pilot itself to riders and back to its charging station autonomously. Designed with a reverse trike chassis, the T60 also includes vision-based navigation technology. The T60 can be operated in two modes: guided piloting for short distances, and autonomous piloting for long distances.
Additional features include automatic dispatch, cloud service, and wireless charging, the company said. For example, operators can remotely control the automated movement of kick scooters through the cloud, to achieve a one-to-many manual remote dispatch. “As a result, shared kick scooters can be dispatched intelligently in different time periods and areas to help shared business operators improve the turnaround frequency of products for lower operating costs and higher profitability,” Segway-Ninebot said.
DeliveryBot gets an upgrade
The Segway-Ninebot DeliveryBot S2 includes suspension improvements with its chassis to navigate over small bumps and obstacles. Image: Segway-Ninebot
The second product launched was the Segway DeliveryBot S2, which can go up and down elevators independently. An upgraded version of the DeliveryBot S1, the S2 is an indoor delivery robot that can adapt to any indoor environment, the company said. The S2 uses LDS Lidar, which has a similar cost but incorporates a larger viewing angle compared with the depth camera used in the S1 model. The S2 also has a navigation system integrated with a visual sensor, “which helps achieve higher location precision and has fewer visual blind spots,” the company said. With this, the S2 can “easily detect human feet and small movements in all directions, so that it can avoid accidents and obstacles properly.”
Additional upgrades include a new suspension damping solution on its chassis, which allows it to cross obstacles more easily. “It can cross obstacles at a vertical measurement of 3 cm, and can cross speed bumps measuring 5 cm,” the company said. The distribution box cell on the robot now has an automatic cabin door, which can flexibly change from two to four slots, according to the size of goods the robot is transporting.
X1 goes outdoors
The third product debuted was the Segway DeliveryBot X1, an outdoor auto-piloting robot that can provide delivery service between buildings. The robot uses multi-data integration technology that lets it deal with precise locations in different environments, as well as an advanced path planning algorithm and dynamic obstacle avoidance algorithm to achieve smooth movement on non-motor vehicle lanes and in closed parks.
The Segway DeliveryBot X1 visits the audience during its product launch. Image: Segway-Ninebot
“With its ability to automatically recognize traffic lights and its chassis mechanical brake, the Segway DeliveryBot X1 guarantees safe piloting,” the company said. “It can intelligently follow and overtake vehicles to improve its efficiency and ensure its on-time delivery.” The X1 has a 350L large-volume capacity, and is compatible with a wide range of delivery items, the company said. It has an IPX5 water resistance rating, which the company said means it can even operate on rainy days.
The company said the S series and X series of DeliveryBots will “allow for an organic integration of information flow and logistics. They have online and offline services that can help businesses smoothly deal with delivery tasks, so as to improve operation and management efficiency.”
The company said the KickScooter T60 will be given to selected customers for customized testing starting on Sept. 1, 2019, with mass production scheduled for Q1 2021. The DeliveryBot S2 will begin trials with selected customers in October 2019, with mass production scheduled for Q1 2020. The DeliveryBot X1 will begin trials with select customers in January 2020.
