HYDERABAD: As part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, Hyderabad-based Svaya Robotics has developed India’s first indigenous quadruped (four-legged) robot and exoskeleton for the defence sector. India currently imports these robots from the US and Switzerland to help strengthen the country’s defence capabilities. The indigenous robots and wearable exoskeletons were developed in collaboration with the DRDO Labs, Research and Development Establishment (R&DE), Pune, and the Defence Bioengineering and Electromedical Laboratory (DEBEL), Bengaluru, as technology demonstrators with their design inputs.
Speaking to TNIE, Vijay R Seelam, founder and managing director (MD) of Svaya Robotics, said, “Quadruped robots are four-legged robots which can walk or run in uneven and rough terrains. For example, in Leh, where soldiers have to navigate through unfavourable conditions, these robots can be used instead. These are also useful in recognising terrorist activities and other unsafe locations and capturing the visuals which can be monitored from any part of the country.”
He said the robots can carry 25 kg in payload and walk along with the soldier, and added that these robots can be used in nuclear plants and other industries as well.
Talking about the wearable exoskeleton, he said, “Many times, soldiers are required to carry a payload of 25 kg and walk up to 20 km at a stretch. This will have an impact on their health in the long run. These active exoskeletons, when worn by soldiers, can carry such heavy loads without expending much effort. Even if they are carrying 25 kg, soldiers feel as if they are carrying six or seven kg, thus they are not fatigued easily. Both are dual-use robots and have multiple use cases in industry and healthcare as well.”
“With our 10 years of experience in the field, we have been able to automate these in Hyderabad within one year. In the next two years, these robots and exoskeletons will be out in the market,” Vijay remarked.
While pointing out that Indian Army is the second-largest army force in the world with around 1.2 million soldiers, he said, “We can save the lives of many soldiers by deploying these robots in the frontline. These robots can be enabled even in the areas where the Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force and other paramilitary and military forces operate. As the nature of war is changing, the scope for robotics in the defence sector is on a rise.”
Field visit
Dr Sateesh Reddy, scientific advisor to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and former chairman of DRDO, along with other senior DRDO, R&DE and DEBEL scientists and MoD officials visited the Svaya Robotics development facility in Hyderabad to review the progress on Monday.
Dr Reddy reviewed the development of the robots that Svaya has undertaken to develop with DRDO inputs. He said, “We are extremely happy with the rapid progress that Svaya Robotics was able to achieve in a very short period. Development partnerships like these are essential to accelerate the development of advanced robotics in India and take them into field trials fast and also keep developing them for dual-use in both defence and industry.”
He emphasised that robotics would play a very important role in enabling Indian defence in both augmenting soldiers and also in providing unmatched remote reconnaissance capabilities.