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India emerges as a new hub for industrial robots
By siliconindia
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Friday, 04 January 2008, 00:34 IST
Mumbai: Though many developed countries are making robots that may look cool, act smart and excite kids with their intelligence, Indians are winning accolades for making robots that are efficient in doing all the hard work, reported The Economic Times.
India is emerging as a hub for production of industrial robots. Many American, Korean and even Japanese firms are using them. But some companies are also developing consumer robots that can clean homes and keep an eye on intruders.
In about two weeks, Ahmedabad based Grid Bots will launch Robograd, a robot that can be used to clean homes and keep an eye on intruders, says Pulkit Gaur, the Co-founder and technical officer of the company.
"Robograd will not have a torso. It may get one eventually. We believe that if robots are made to look like humans, consumers mistake them for toys and don't take them seriously," he added.
The robots from Grid Bots, priced Rs 10,000 each, would roll out across India in a month. The company is hoping that the robot will also find an international market for its price and utility. But a bulk of India?s robotics business is industrial, and that?s growing since the companies across the world want to reduce costs.
Tranter, a U.S. based company, has replaced manpower with robots that it acquired from Precision Automation and Robotics India (PARI), one of India's biggest robotics firms. The $50 PARI's robots now take care of the process ranging from pouring milk to boiling, condensing and placing it in the conveyer. "The company used to spend about five minutes on every unit; now it spends only a minute. You can imagine the cost savings," said Mukund Kelkar, Director, PARI.
PARI claims that its industrial robots are used by global companies like Caterpillar, Hitachi, Bosch, Emerson Power, American Ayle, Honeywell and Indian subsidiaries of MNCs like Samsung, Philips, LG, Suzuki, Renault, Ford, Honda and Hyundai because of their flexibility.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has already even talked about the need to increase activities in the Indian robotics space. "We plan to go in for precision guided munitions as well as unmanned vehicle technologies in the 11th and 12th Plan period," he had said recently.
"Apart from consumer and industry robots, there are special robots for the educational use. More opportunities for companies will require more skilled manpower. So our business will go up," said Vaishali Singh, director of Uttarakhand-based J Robotics Technologies.
