At CES 2025, we spoke with Rajeev Ramanth of Blueberry Technology, Ltd. about their innovative solution to a perennial challenge in air travel: unreliable and unpredictable mobility assistance. Their new product, BB Go, is a fully autonomous personal vehicle designed to transform the travel experience for mobility-challenged passengers.
The Problem: A Costly, Transactional, and Stressful Journey #
The current system for airport wheelchair service is under strain. The demand for assistance has increased as the population ages, requiring airlines or airports to hire more staff. The current approach often results in long wait times and stressful experiences for customers. Furthermore, when relying on a human attendant, customers are stripped of their personal autonomy and are often told where to go and when.
The Cost to Airlines: The existing service is a significant operational cost for airlines. It has been reported that each wheelchair request can cost an airline between $30–$35. This high labor cost—driven by time-consuming pushes across large terminals—is a major burden for carriers.
The Solution: Customer Freedom via Autonomy #
The BB Go vehicle is built specifically with “customer freedom in mind”. It gives passengers the ability to “peruse an airport on their own terms, on their own time, on their own, whims and fancies”.
The autonomous vehicle integrates technology (including collision avoidance) that allows it to operate fully independently. It can also seamlessly transition into a joystick mode for self-driving or a traditional push mode like any other wheelchair. This focus on restoring independence echoes discussions about autonomous devices transforming service industries, such as the concept of the Invisible Chauffeur.
Technology, Fleet Management, and Deployment #
The BB Go vehicle leverages technological advancements previously confined to fields like autonomous cars and robotics.
- Edge Computing: The vehicle uses an Nvidia CPU/GPU (Jetson computer) to make all movement decisions locally “on the edge”. This ensures safety and security, as the fleet is not reliant on a single, centralized cloud algorithm that could fail.
- Navigation: The vehicle uses a combination of LIDARs and cameras to navigate its environment, avoiding “no go zones” like escalators or moving walkways.
- Fleet Management: A central manager can redeploy an available vehicle to a new person immediately, even if the previous user has only temporarily stepped away for a meal or restroom break. The company has already identified the need to add technology, such as weight sensors, to remind passengers to take their luggage before the vehicle is redeployed.
The product has already achieved an impressive milestone, with a commercial deployment of four vehicles at Savannah Hilton Head International Airport. The pilot program demonstrated a high success rate, recording over a 98% customer satisfaction rate.
The Business Model: Federal Mandates Drive Massive Cost Savings #
The core of the BB Go business model is anchored in U.S. federal law.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) enforces the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA), which makes it illegal for airlines to discriminate against passengers with disabilities. As Rajeev Ramanth stated, “every airline is federally mandated to provide this service to anybody who asks for it… the airline has to pick up the tab is literally US law”.
This federal obligation—detailed in DOT regulation 14 CFR Part 382—requires airlines to provide prompt wheelchair or guided assistance at airports to board, deplane, or connect to another flight, all at no cost to the passenger.
This financial responsibility creates a powerful incentive for airlines to adopt an automated solution. Since the autonomous vehicle is a robot, the cost of deployment is nearly the same for an hour or eight hours of use, meaning the “more you use it, the more you save” compared to the high, recurring cost of facilitating a wheelchair push service. The service has been shown to provide up to 50% savings over the cost of facilitating a wheelchair push service and has helped reduce staff injuries.
Looking Ahead: Hospitals and Summoning Apps #
While the secure, defined use case of the airport was an obvious initial application, Blueberry Technology is already looking to expand:
- Near-Term: Elder care centers are a priority goal for improving the quality of life for residents.
- Long-Term: Hospitals for outpatient visits are a target market, solving the problem of long distances a patient may have to walk between a taxi drop-off and various appointments.
The company also plans to enhance customer experience by moving beyond relying on airport operators for vehicle allocation. Future plans include a consumer-facing app that will allow passengers to directly summon a vehicle.
[Note, the above text was directed and edited by the author, but written by Gemini].
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