BackGridbots | Everything dirty, dangerous, dull
After working with defense systems, the robot-maker now looks towards consumer homes
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Past life
As a child, Pulkit Gaur, now 31, used to break toys like others his age. But then he would try to put them back together. “This was the toughest part. However carefully I tried to repair them, they were never the same. This made me experiment," says Gaur, who made a microphone out of a pencil-cell when he was about 10. When he was in class VII, he made a transmitter with a range of about 5km in his one-room lab at home in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. The circuit design got published in an electronics magazine and he received about 2,000 fan mails.
An Iron Man poster hangs in Gaur’s office in Ahmedabad, where he experiments with robots. It’s for inspiration, he says; like Tony Stark, Gaur got published in a science magazine when he was very young, and he’s now an entrepreneur who wants his robots to help save lives, especially in the defence sector.
He got a bachelor’s degree from MBM Engineering College, Jodhpur, in production industrial engineering, and he received awards for both software and hardware at the prestigious IIT-Bombay Techfest in 2002, 2003 and 2004. He has also designed and developed an artificial vision system for the visually impaired and a programmable hybrid three-wheeler.
Eureka moment
Gaur worked steadily towards one dream—that his robots would be deployed by the Union ministry of defence. “I want my robots to save the life of an Indian soldier one day," he says.
In 2012, he made submersible robots that were used to clean the tanks at a nuclear facility, where humans can’t work because of the high radiation level. Called SaUsR (smart automation underwater service robot), the robot uses sensors to measure temperature, acidity and direction.
After Gaur graduated in 2004, he worked with Meditab Software India Pvt. Ltd, where he ran a 100 person technical team. However, he remained preoccupied with robots, having built nearly two dozen before he completed his engineering degree.
In 2007, he set up Gridbot Technologies; one of India’s first robotics firms, he says.
“I wanted my robots to do all the dirty, dangerous and dull things in life. The aim was to build robots that could solve real-life problems for the common man," says Gaur, who has more than 50 products in his portfolio. He was named 2011 Innovator of the Year by the MIT Technology Review and has also received a TED Fellowship.
Headquartered in Ahmedabad, Gridbots’ client list includes the Union ministry of home affairs, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, Indian Navy, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Oil and Natural Gas Corp., Indian Space Research Organisation, and the Gujarat Police.
Gridbots robots can use the Internet to share critical data and exert extended control, allowing consumers to keep a tab on them. For example, the Smart Telepresence Robot for home users can keep a check on lighting in a room by controlling the lights and window blinds.
Gridbots has been incubated by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship and is supported by the Union government’s department of science and technology.
Reality check
Gridbots initiated franchise operations in 2010, opening 10 outlets across the country. The model was not designed properly, however, and the company had to incur losses. Eventually, all stores had to be closed. So a lot of time was lost in operations when the focus could have been on innovation, says Gaur, who expects his company to clock a turnover of ₹ 10 crore this year, against 2 crore in 2012-13.
A major challenge for the company is finding the right talent, for robotics in India has not come of age. To overcome this, Gaur has started another company, Edubotix Innovation Labs, to educate college students across four R&D laboratories and recruit them at a later stage. “While we may have founded 100 things, we may not have been able to commercialize even five," says Gaur.
After defence and industrial robotics, Gridbots is now set to introduce India’s first indigenous home robot—a telepresence robot which can carry out household chores, capture videos and even rescue people.
The robot will come with a rugged chassis, high-resolution video and audio streamer and precise motion control system. With smart sensors and automatic localization technology, it can automatically find its way back to the charging dock. “Consumer robotics is our near-term future plan. For the long term, we are looking at medical and healthcare robotics," says Gaur.
Secret sauce
Gaur and his 35-member team develop robots and customize them to suit a client’s needs. He says their products are designed smart and can think by themselves, making them more responsive and energy-efficient.
While his products cost a fifth of those available in the market, around 90% of his work is for the government. Gridbots has spent about 20 crore on R&D. “We have one thing going round the clock, and that is innovation. About 80% of our revenue goes to R&D," says Gaur.
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