To travel freely, comfortably and without the need to actually own a van? This is exactly the vision that BUT students Pavel Kubín and Tomáš Vaněk had. The result of their efforts is the CampiGO Box – an innovative gadget that turns an ordinary passenger car into a camping car including a built-in mini-kitchen.
CampiGO Box offers a stove, refrigerator, water tank, lighting, and a large amount of storage space, all elegantly packed in a stylish box that is easily attached to the car’s towbar. "Basically anyone can install it in a few minutes," says Pavel Kubín, co-author of this invention, who is finalizing his studies of Process Engineering at BUT.
He and his friend Tomáš Vaněk have known each other since high school, after which they continued together at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. "And we were always tinkering, creating and inventing something. These were just little stupid things, but now we have decided to take it to the end," adds Kubín with enthusiasm.
Camping without compromise
The idea for the CampiGO Box arose spontaneously while planning a road trip. "My girlfriend and I wanted to travel in our own car, but we found that the constant need of shuffling things in the trunk or in the rooftop box makes the trip tiring and impractical. So I had the idea to create a separate box where everything would be ready and immediately at hand," Kubín recalls.
He and Tomáš Vaněk made the first prototype in 2024 was truly makeshift – part was made in the strojLAB student workshop and part in the parking lot in front of the house. "It consisted of aluminium profiles, plywood and polycarbonate, but after a three-week trip around Italy, it became clear that it needed a lot of improvements. After we came back, the box eventually fell apart," says Kubín with a laugh. However, the young designers learned from the test trip and the second prototype featured significant improvements, the design was fine-tuned and the current third and last version is ready offered to customers.
The box is universal and can be installed behind almost any car that has a towbar with a maximum load of up to 80 kilograms. "We offer a total of three variants. The basic one contains a cooker, and the box itself, where there are also two drawers and storage space for a gas cylinder and a canister of water, and this package also includes a carrier and delivery. The medium variant also includes a refrigerator. And then we have the premium version, where you can choose from 19 colours of the box, plus it includes a camping socket and lighting for the work area. The price ranges from 60 to 80 thousand CZK, depending on the equipment. We chose the appliances of the highest quality, both because of the design and, above all, the durability," says Kubín.
To travellers from students
The founders of the project did not stop at the prototype. They founded their own company and are now starting to sell and rent CampiGO. They manage to produce small quantities on their own. The project also benefits from the strong backing of the Faculty of Technology, where Tomáš and Pavel come from (Tomáš Vaněk is now continuing his studies at the Faculty of Business and Management of the Brno University of Technology).
"The knowledge from school gave us an overview of what to look out for during development. Personally, studying process engineering helped me understand the legislation related to such a product, as well as dealing with trademarks. And of course, our design knowledge was the absolute basis," says Kubín, adding that if the company takes off, he plans to make a living from this business. "Tomáš and I also have ideas for other products that we came up with together during the hours spent on the box and that would make sense – whether accessories for our box or separate things that are missing on the Czech market," concludes Kubín.
If you are interested in the project, follow the young entrepreneurs on Instagram @camp.igo or visit the www.campigo.life website.