THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: India may still be playing catch-up in terms of advancement in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), but a Kochi-based startup is looking to turn the tables. Sastra Robotics, registered with the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), has received export orders for nearly 160 of its robots from clients in the United Kingdom and the United States. Its robots employ AI to perform testing tasks that cannot be carried out by humans.
Sastra is the second robotic startup after Genrobotics Innovations, of Bandicoot fame, from Kerala to make global strides. Founded by three Malayalis — P Aronin, Achu Wilson and Akhil A — Sastra’s robots are equipped with advanced arms and force-controlled fingers, that function like human limbs, and are used to detect flaws in sophisticated equipment used in sectors such as space, defence and banking.
According to Aronin, who is also the company’s CEO, 15 robots have already reached the UK, and 135 are expected to ship by the end of this month or early next month. “Apart from this, we have started shipping robots to the US. One has already reached California, and a batch of 10 is under production,” he added. The robots, developed and built entirely in the state, eliminate the need for human intervention in detecting hardware and software faults in electronic smart devices with touch displays.
Besides, they can also anticipate the cause of the failure using AI. The customers of Sastra, which has bagged awards at the national and international level, include names such as Bosch, HCL, Qualcomm, Tech Mahindra, and ABB. The startup’s three founders were batchmates at Palakkad Government Engineering College. It was during a tech expo organised at the institution that they developed a passion for robotics. They went on to collaborate on their own creations which were displayed at various exhibitions.
Though they landed jobs with various companies after graduating, their passion got the better of them. They decided to quit and start their own firm. With the backing of KSUM, the trio registered their firm as a robotic startup in 2013. They incubated at Maker Village at Kalamassery and later shifted their operations to near the Cusat campus. It is here that all their products take shape.
It was a speech by noted AI researcher Mrinal Kalakrishnan at a technology summit in Bengaluru that inspired us to start a robotic firm, recounts Aronin.
Sastra focuses on testing automation. “The robots do the job three times faster than humans and make the process less expensive. Our price advantage is one of the attractions for foreign clients. Moreover, there is high demand for advanced robots in the west,” he noted.
Sastra now plans to develop robotic hands that could be used as prosthetics for amputees and physically challenged persons. It will soon be opening an office in California, which will be followed by one in Bengaluru next year.