Piaggio Fast Forward (PFF), a leader in smart following technology and subsidiary of the Piaggio Group (PIA.MI), and Trimble recently announced a proof-of-concept collaboration to enable robots and machines to follow humans and other machines in industrial applications.

Together, the companies have integrated a patent-pending PFFtag™ smart following module prototype developed by Piaggio Fast Forward onto a Boston Dynamics’ Spot® robot platform controlled by Trimble’s advanced positioning technology. This eliminates the need to solely control the robot via joystick. This proof-of-concept is one of the many robots and autonomous vehicles Trimble provides solutions for and could apply to many industries Trimble serves, including construction, mining, agriculture, and logistics.