As men lumber through their elderly years, often times the game of golf becomes a welcomed getaway into nature. A place to go for sanctuary, away from the nagging wife, and away from money gobbling kids. By the time men reach the “average” golfing age, they have either lost a considerable amount of muscle strength, yet are still too full of pride to pay a caddy to lug around their clubs, or just don’t want to miss out on the beautiful landscape as they trudge across their country club’s course.

The three-wheeled Shadow Caddy is a fully autonomous set of wheels for the golf course. While you place your golf bag in the cart of the Shadow Caddy, the device loyally follows you around the green, without the need of a tip at every hole.

The Shadow Caddy works using a “pocket-sized” transmitter (the pocket-size being a matter of debate, depending on the size of your pockets) which is worn on the body of the golfer. This transmitter helps the Caddy navigate safely and accurately as it communicates with its multiple on-board CPUs and a collision detection system to keep an eye out for any obstacles. The Caddy has two settings, “Follow-Me” for normal use and “Park” for those times where you don’t want a damn robotic caddy chasing you around.

The Shadow Caddy is one of the 21st finalist of the Next Big Thing Awards, and is expected to roll out to the public for rental use only. The Caddy is currently being tested on four different Melbourne golf courses where you can view the device zooming along at an impressive speed.

Product Page via Gizmag