The Transformers@Genrobotics: Engineering Innovation for Social Good

JAMES CAMERON’S 2009 science fiction film Avatar featured giant two-legged humanoid robots, which soldiers operated from torso seats to battle the blue-skinned ‘Na’vi’ people of the imaginary world of Pandora. Avatar’s robots, products of CGI and special effects, inspired South Korea’s Hankook Mirae Technology to produce a 13-foot-tall, 1.5-tonne robot exoskeleton by the end of 2016. Hankook Mirae billed it as the world’s first manned bipedal robot built to work in hazardous areas where humans cannot go. But that distinction of being the ‘first’ could also go to some students in India. In 2015, four B.Tech students from MES College of Engineering at Kuttippuram in Kerala’s Malappuram district had designed an exoskeleton like the Iron Man suit. Arun George, Vimal Govind M.K., Rashid K., and Nikhil N.P., who were active in the National Service Scheme (NSS), wanted to leverage engineering and robotics to make a positive impact on society. Vimal, whose father was in the army, was aware of the difficulties of transporting heavy weapons and supplies in hostile environments such as Kargil. The four friends designed a robot that could walk on rough terrain with heavy payloads. The idea died as a blueprint because private participation in defence procurement had not gained steam at that time. But, a year later, the youngsters won the best concept award at the International Conference on Mechatronics & Manufacturing, held in Singapore. When they graduated, they were given two options by their parents: get a postgraduate degree or get a job. They did neither: the entrepreneurial bug had bitten them. While searching for how and where to begin, they chanced upon a small news item in a Malayalam daily. When two scavengers cleaning a manhole in Kozhikode failed to come out, an autorickshaw driver went down to rescue them. Poisonous gases in the manhole killed all three. The deaths created a furore, and Kerala’s Startup Mission issued a problem statement, inviting startups to find a solution. The four friends were already working with the Kerala Startup Mission to develop the fine-tuned Exoskeleton-2. But they realised that commercialising the concept was years away. Genrobotics, their startup, was out of funds. That’s when they went down the rabbit hole of manholes. In 1993, India banned the use of humans or scavengers to clean dry toilets; however, these scavengers continued to be sent down manholes without any safety equipment to clean sewage and drainage systems, as well as septic tanks. The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act was passed in 2013, but the practice continued. The latest data from the National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem scheme, launched in 2023 by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment and the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, has identified approximately 84,092 sewer and septic tank workers (SSWs) in urban local bodies, which decreased to 24,000 by 2024.Bandicoot robot India NGOs, such as Sulabh International, estimate that there are 200,000 SSW workers. The numbers are of public sector SSWs, and there are no estimates about the private sector SSWs. Genrobotics says the private sector employs an equal number of workers. Considering the growth in infrastructure, India faces a shortage of SSWs. Vimal Govind M.K., co-founder and CEO, Genrobotics, says, “We realised that while we were trying to develop robots that can wage wars and save the lives of our soldiers, which is a long-term concept to commercialise, we could save the lives of the poor scavenger community using the same robotic tools. We could develop it in the short term.” Very soon, Genrobotics had produced the ‘Bandicoot’, a corruption of the Telugu name “pandi-kokku” for “pig-rat”, a destructive rodent found in India. Says Arun George, co-founder, “When we conceptualised the robot, its shape was like a bandicoot, but after perfecting the robot with necessary changes, we ended up with the shape of a spider.” Genrobotics’s Bandicoot went down its first manhole in 2018, in Kerala’s capital, Thiruvananthapuram. Soon, Genrobotics was receiving orders from other cities in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Haryana. India will require at least 10,000 Bandicoots to service the existing infrastructure. The founders say the global opportunity is also huge for the IP-protected technology based on robotics, sensors, and AI. While eliminating manual scavenging, existing workers are being trained to operate these machines. The productivity of the robot is about 10 times that of manual work. In an eight-hour shift, one Bandicoot can clean about 12 manholes; a three-member team can clean only three manholes manually in the same time. A Bandicoot costs around ₹44 lakh, but the operator can recover the cost in two years. A Bandicoot, which has a life span of 7-10 years, has robotic arms for waste cleaning, IP68-rated night-vision enabled cameras that can work submerged and are dust-tight, gas detection sensors, and can be remotely operated using AI-powered controls. Now Bandicoots are available in about seven models with features, including cost-effective mini battery-operated ones, vehicle-mounted versions and large-scale platforms. A new extended rover technology version called Wilboar, shaped like a wild boar, can clean large tanks, storm water drains and large diameter pipelines. In the first year, Genrobotics sold 10 units. Soon, demand increased, and it introduced new versions and capacities. So far, 400-plus units in various models have been installed in 19 states and three Union Territories, through direct sales, channel partners and dealer networks. Average revenue for the past three years has been ₹25.65 crore. In the past six months, revenues were ₹20.52 crore. Genrobotics has orders for 200 units, of which half can be delivered this year (it can produce 20 units a month at facilities across Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram, Muvattupuzha and Kanjikkode in Kerala, Hyderabad in Telangana and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh). The capacity is being doubled to 40 units a month. Around 400 professionals are working with Genrobotics, including 150 in the research and development division. Leading angel investors and venture capitalists are happy with Genrobotics: VCs and investors had put in ₹45 crore before the current ₹100-crore investment round. Initial seed funding of ₹72 lakh was provided by Rajan Anandan, ex-VP of Google, India and Southeast Asia, in January 2018. Investments worth about ₹2.5 crore came in the first series of funding in October 2020. One of the main investors in this round included Anand Mahindra, chairman, Mahindra Group, who gave ₹50 lakh. IT major Zoho Corp., led by its then CEO Sridhar Vembu, was the next big investor, putting in ₹20 crore in January 2022. The promoters say investors in the latest round include a U.S.-based startup and a leading Indian tech giant. Says Vembu, “Genrobotics is among the most innovative companies in India, with the potential to impact millions of lives. Starting with Bandicoot to solve a critical social problem, this young team is now advancing robotics for healthcare and beyond. I believe Genrobotics will grow into a strong anchor for the development of our states and for the nation as a whole.” The founders of Genrobotics say the company, which generated revenues of ₹40 crore in FY25, will close FY26 with ₹100 crore and FY27 with ₹300-500 crore. The immediate goal is to reach ₹1,000 crore within five years and ₹5,000-6,000 crore revenues a year within 10 years. Genrobotics is also diversifying into medical devices. Genrobotics Medical Division has developed a neurological rehabilitation platform, ‘G Gaiter,’ built for patients with neurological or musculoskeletal gait disorders. It helps stroke-affected patients through intensive retraining in natural walking, utilising AI-powered exoskeleton control and patented pneumatic drive technology, along with VR support to stimulate the neural network in the brain. A paediatric version is also available. “G Gaiter is getting good traction and so far has deployed about 15 units in south Indian hospitals and rehab clinics,” says Vimal Govind. The average price of the platform is about ₹3 crore. Moreover, the founder team is now reviving their initial dream in the defence sector. They are in discussions with the Ministry of Defence and security agencies to induct the finetuned exoskeleton. Another project under development is ‘Genbot’, a robotic soldier platform. A completely autonomous and highly intelligent machine, Genbot can perform all the risky actions typically done by a soldier and operate a variety of weapons, based on the training it has received. Its civil use versions are already developed and ready for commercialisation. With that kind of unique products already developed and more in the pipeline, Genrobotics robots are likely to make a mark in the world of the future. Fortune India is now on WhatsApp! Get the latest updates from the world of business and economy delivered straight to your phone. Subscribe now.

The Transformers@Genrobotics: Engineering Innovation for Social Good

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