Humanoid robots have been the talk of the town, spurred by the latest unveiling of Optimus at Tesla’s AI Day 2022. Since then, discussions have been brewing over the future of human interactions and customer assistance at workplaces. According to a report, the humanoid robot market is expected to register a CAGR of 63.5% between 2022 and 2027. India has been ahead in the robotics race, making it to the top 15 list of the highest number of recorded robots installations in 2020. 

Let’s take a look at some of the most interesting pieces of humanoid technology made in India:

Manav

Manav, India’s first 3D printed humanoid robot, was first unveiled at IIT Mumbai Tech Fest. About two feet tall, the robot is able to perform tasks such as walking, talking and dancing by listening to voice commands. 

It was built with an open source code so that it can be trained in real-time to learn and respond, similar to a human child. The machinery in it allowed two degrees of freedom in the head and neck—which means that the robot could move its head up and down, and sideways. Additionally, the robotic system had Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, and a rechargeable lithium polymer battery in it. 

Manav was made available to many engineering and research institutes teaching robotics as a subject, as the maker believed it was meant mainly for research purposes. 

IRA

IRA, launched by HDFC Bank Ltd, was placed near the welcome desk at a branch in Mumbai. The first phase of the project involved the robot greeting customers entering the bank, and showing them a list of the services offered by the bank. Customers could select an option and the robot would guide them to the relevant counters in the branch. 

However, HDFC Bank Ltd. also came up with the second installment of the robot shortly after. IRA 2.0, which was launched in Bangalore, not only guides customers through the branch, but also interacts with them, and answers certain bank-related queries, and frequently asked questions (FAQs). 

Mitra

Mitra, a customer-service robot, was developed by Bangalore-based Invento Robotics. It is famously known for greeting Ivanka Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the GES 2017 summit, and declaring the event open.  

The robot rose to prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic, where it was deployed in hospitals as a point of contact between patients and their loved ones. Patients could connect with them through a screen attached to its chest. Like an assistant to nurses and doctors, Mitra is capable of taking their readings and vitals, and giving timely reminders to patients to take their medication. 

RADA

Built on a four-wheel chassis with 360-degrees rotation, RADA is a customer-assistance robot for Vistara Airlines, deployed at the Indira Gandhi International airport, Delhi. The robot was designed to serve Vistara’s customers by responding to their queries, and providing several entertainment options like games, songs, and videos. 

Additionally, RADA is also capable of greeting the flyers, scanning their boarding passes, and providing necessary details such as the terminal, departure gates, and weather conditions of the destination city, among other flight-related information.    

RoboCop

RoboCop is a Sub Inspector (SI)-ranked robot, stationed at the Kerala police headquarters, in Thiruvananthapuram. The robot was tasked with managing the front office at the headquarters. 

The visitors could directly interact with the KP-robot, receive directions on where they need to head, as and when necessary. RoboCop was also able to perform certain additional features such as fixing meetings, issuing identity cards, or opening new files based on the concerns of the public. Thus, it was equipped with recording the details of the visitors and their respective clients. 

INDRO

INDRO is the tallest humanoid robot made in India. Created by Santosh Hulawale, it was built with low-cost materials inside a house, and can be used for household chores, entertainment and education-related activities. The robot can carry up to 150 kg of payload on the platform placed below its knees. It is also capable of lifting up to 2 kilos of weight with its hands and has the ability to perform all ‘human-like’ actions. INDRO is open source, allowing its users to program the bot according to their requirements. 

The latest installment of the robot—6 feet in height—is developed on the Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning platform, and has the ability to perform multiple tasks with high precision and speed. It also is equipped with a face recognition software, which enables it to recognise people it has interacted with earlier.    

KEMPA

KEMPA, also a customer-assistance robot, was built by Bangalore-based Sirena Technologies. The bot, which was deployed at the Kempegowda International Airport, would help passengers with their flight-related queries, like providing information about flights, check-in details, scanning luggage, and handing out boarding passes. 

KEMPA was also capable of sharing information about Bangalore—its culture and heritage, and suggesting some tourist places to visit in Bangalore. Or, the bot could also simply entertain you with a conversation.  

AcYut

AcYut, known to be India’s first indigenous robot, was developed by undergraduate students at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani, India. The project had quite a few sponsors, most notably Govt. of India (DEITY) and BITSAA. At numerous international venues, such as RoboCup, RoboGames, CMU, Stanford, etc., AcYut has represented India. AcYut is also consistently the sole team representing India in the highly technological Humanoid Teen Sized Soccer Leagues at Robocup, where robots compete in autonomous soccer matches.