Researchers in South Korea have introduced an innovative product called Palletrone, which turns a shopping cart into a flying drone. This aims to eliminate the disadvantages of standard shopping carts.

Drone-Like Flying Shopping Cart: Palletrone

While standard shopping carts are practical for carrying heavy loads, they often have limited maneuverability and can be cumbersome. Additionally, they cannot overcome obstacles like stairs. This is where Palletrone comes into play.

Equipped with multiple rotors, Palletrone can hover in the air and operates like a mini drone. Users can push the shopping cart like a regular one, and thanks to its integrated sensing technology, it follows the user.

Videos released by the researchers show Palletrone easily navigating up and down stairs. This feature could allow shoppers to explore different floors of a store without searching for elevators or escalators.

However, Palletrone is still in the early stages of development. The current prototype can carry about 3 kilograms, which is significantly less than the capacity of a standard shopping cart. The research team is working on a more powerful version for fully-fledged shopping trips.

If technical challenges like weight capacity can be overcome, Palletrone could revolutionize future supermarkets. This means that instead of pushing heavy carts, customers could shop within the store using Palletrone. If the development process is successful, it has been reported that Palletrone could be used in supermarkets in the near future.