HYDERABAD: They look fancy, but are true workhorses. They can walk, talk, move, hold, twist... And they come for less than the yearly pay package of an average Indian employee in a company. Meet the four new humanoid robots RoboDiCaprio – The guest relations robot; RoboJulia – the serving robot, RoboElf – the service assistant, and RoboNano – The personal companion. And guess what, a family of robots are already at work closer home, in Hyderabad.
Made by Gurgaon-based domestic robots company Milagrow Robots, these robots are already getting hired in important jobs. Says Rajeev Karwal , Founder-Chairman of this AI company, “Hotel ITC Kohenur in Hyderabad already has bought four robots for tasks such as floor cleaning, lawn mowing, swimming pool cleaning and window cleaning. There is also another top Hyderabad-based healthcare major besides ITC Hotel who are in advanced talks to order more from the new humanoid family,” he adds.
How much, how soon?
How soon can we see more such robots in our midst, considering the kind of affordability they have – at the price of a mid-range luxury car? 24 months, he predicts. “These humanoid robots are ideal for posts that require to move in crowds and interact with floating population. Humans are susceptible to the virus and are potential carriers. A sterile robot would be a good choice for tasks such as management of a hospital reception. “In fact, the robots have huge screens and it is easy to integrate a human’s presence (who could be sitting at home to appear on the screen and interact with the public )akin to a WhatsApp video call. This way, users get to feel the human, yet can stay away,” explains Rajeev. He believes that restaurants also may find robotic waiters a good bet. Many guests may prefer a robot instead of a person handling his food and delivering it to his table.
RoboDiCaprio: The Guest Relations Robot
This 155 cm tall robot can be used for business consulting, greeting, reservations, advertising and patrolling at hotels, bank, administrative centres, restaurant, museums, libraries, hospitals, schools, retail showrooms etc. Equipped with advanced sensors to sense the human presence in proximity, RoboDiCaprio can actively interact with visitors. It can greet them, broadcast promotional information, guide the visitor to different locations, and play audio, still images and videos while speaking. The humanoid also has face recognition capabilities with response milliseconds and 98% accuracy. When it comes to navigation, it functions on LIDAR technology which can scan a distance of 25 M with an accuracy of 2mm. It is also equipped with a technology for seamless navigation without any human intervention. Price: Rs 12 lakh
RoboJulia: The Serving Robot
Standing tall at 155 cms, the Serving Robot is designed to deliver meals to the guests’ designated tables, explain the menu, give restaurant information, etc. The robot can even deliver different meals to three different tables. It can even has an emergency stop. RoboJulia is equipped with anti-skid rubber wheels and can walk at 3km/h. Price: Rs 10 lakh
RoboElf: The Service Assistant
RoboElf has already been deployed at the AIIMS, New Delhi and Sir H. N. Reliance Foundation Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai. It is also working in shopping malls, restaurants, banks, metros, elementary schools, and many other sectors. The robot’s latest version has a business management system – Multi-service Platform System (MPS). With this service system built on a Cloud terminal, users can give orders or push new files to their RoboElf robots distributed around the world. The robot can also collect and manage collected data from each robot so the user can better run their businesses. Price: Rs 6.5 lacs.
RoboNano: The Personal Companion
Perfect for offering companionship, RoboNano is a personal assistant robot equipped with Amazon’s Alexa Voice Service. This intelligent, cloud-enabled robot features voice assistance, smart home control and remote surveillance capabilities, delivering centralized management and security to households around the world. RoboNano stands at 85 cms tall and comes with over 50 sensors to avoid objects in its way, recognize voices and know when someone enters the room. Additionally, the humanoid can order pizza, request a car, track fitness stats, control the TV and play music from today’s leading streaming providers. It pairs with smart home devices from the world’s most popular connected home brands, enabling families to control lights, thermostats and home appliances. RoboNano also allows families to live-stream video and control it from anywhere in the world. Price: Rs 4 lakh.