KOZHIKODE: Kochi has been hosting events in variety areas and of different magnitudes, but the one scheduled for February 23 should surely stand out. The reason is unique: It will have a robot as one of the panelists. At the event organised by the Kitchen Community of the Kerala Startup Mission, HIRO (Humanoid Intended for Robotic Operation), solely developed by Robo Inventions, a startup, will also interact with the public.
“For the first time in Kerala’s technology history, a robot will interact with people and participate in a panel discussion,” said Kitchen Community events organiser Andrine Mendez. Robo Inventions Managing Director Pratheesh Prakash said HIRO is a service-industry robot. “HIRO is programmed to recognise face, speech and gesture so that it can address the problems of the person concerned. As of now, it knows only English and it can understand any slang of it. In future more languages will be added,” said Pratheesh.
HIRO’s specialty is that it can interact with human beings. It also knows how to give directions in hospitals and restaurants. HIRO can be an alternative for room boys in the hotels. Its parts were made up at the Fab Lab of startup in Kochi. “It takes more than 15 days to train a staff, but only few minutes to programme HIRO (machine learning) as per the requirement of a hospital or hotel,” he said.
HIRO is a sleek and slender robot invested with artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning. Every single detail in human interactions and behaviour has been imbedded into HIRO. High-fidelity speakers enable it to be heard in the open and noisy environments. The precision-milled hardware is super silent, allowing seamless operation in hospitals and high-profile offices. HIRO has been manufactured using a hybrid technique, which includes additive, subtractive and composite manufacturing techniques.