November 2024 | Athera's Odyssey: The Indian Robotics Story
Three exemplary professionals share their tryst with robotics in India.
In this month's edition of Odyssey, we explore India's dynamic robotics sector which has recently seen a massive demand in both domestic and international markets, but needs an upgrade when it comes to institutionalised support. We'll be using the lens of academia, innovation, policy, and first principles to tell the Indian Robotics Story.
The Pioneer: Jagannath Raju built India's indigenous robotic arms through Systemantics after working at MIT's robotics labs.
The Visionary: Gokul's CynLr reimagines machine vision and manipulation to transform manufacturing from material-focused to IP-focused.
The Legacy: TVS Motors evolved from basic automation to Industry 4.0 over 30 years, developing frameworks like 'rigorous ROI' while prioritizing ESG in Indian manufacturing.
Happy reading!
The Pioneer: Jagannath Raju
Let’s go back to the 1980s.
Jagannath Raju's introduction to robotics came through an unexpected avenue - remote handling of radioactive fuel for a thesis project at IIT Madras.
Working with the Reactor Research Center at Kalpakkam, he encountered the fundamental challenges of remote manipulation, following concepts developed by Ray Goertz, the pioneer of master-slave robotics arms at Central Research Labs in Minnesota, US.
The transition from pure mechanical engineering to the digital realm came at UC Berkeley.
"The faculty insisted my first course would be digital logic," Raju recalls.
This was the era of 8-bit processors, when the very concept of mechatronics was in its infancy.
The MIT Renaissance: Space, Sea, and Revolutionary Research
At MIT, Raju found himself at the epicenter of robotics innovation.
“The first courses in Artificial Intelligence were being taught in MIT when I had joined the institute.”
His work ranged from space robotics funded by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and deep-sea remotely operated vehicles funded by the US Sea Grant program that would later discover the Titanic.
The lab's achievements were remarkable: three colleagues became astronauts on the space shuttle, with one conducting spacewalks, while others contributed to the Mars rover project and deep-sea exploration.
This period also saw Raju's early involvement with Boston Dynamics, then a three-person startup founded by Marc Raibert working on a NASA funded Small Business Innovation Research project for haptic feedback in teleoperation.
You may have heard about Boston Dynamics because of ‘Spot’, their popular robot released in 2016.
"We were working on a really interesting NASA project in collaboration with Boston Dynamics too. The company was about three people at that time," he remembers, providing a glimpse into the humble beginnings of what would become a robotics powerhouse.
The Indian Homecoming
Despite flourishing opportunities in the US, including potential roles at emerging robotics companies, Raju chose India.
This decision, though questioned by many, was driven by a simple truth:
"To me, it was just home."
This choice would prove instrumental in seeding India's robotics ecosystem.
His initial consulting work with the Center for AI and Robotics included a sophisticated robot inspection system for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) project at HAL, driven by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam’s support for indigenous design and development.
However, this experience revealed the complex interplay between technology and bureaucracy in Indian institutions.
Systemantics: Building from First Principles
Systemantics emerged from necessity.
The company's initial focus on custom projects for government institutions provided valuable insights into the Indian market's needs and constraints.
A watershed moment came in 2000 with their first indigenous robotic arm. This four-axis robot was remarkably ahead of its time in features that are now associated with collaborative robotic arms.
"It had distributed control, with every joint being intelligent and networked. We were probably the first in the world to have that feature, and it had an aluminium structure" Raju notes.
The greatest challenge in India's robotics journey has been the absence of a component ecosystem. Systemantics' first robotic arm, though technologically sophisticated, faced commercialization hurdles because every critical component required imports.
World-class robotic arms, made in India
Today, Systemantics focuses on collaborative robots, targeting India's vast MSME sector with a unique value proposition. While large automotive manufacturers can afford imported robots with premium service contracts, MSMEs need affordable, serviceable solutions for batch production. The use cases are compelling, particularly in machine tending and inspection systems. A striking statistic reveals the urgency for automation: some factories face 30% monthly labor turnover.
"HR has mastered the technique of getting 60 new people every month," Raju notes, highlighting the unsustainable nature of current manual processes.
The Policy Paradox
Despite extensive experience with government institutions, Raju offered us a sobering perspective on policy interventions in robotics.
"There's so much entropy in governance in India, even though there is no such thing as an isentropic process, it can’t be all entropy" he observes.
While top officials like Dr. Kalam understood the need for change, institutional structures remain resistant to supporting private innovation.
The contrast with international models is stark. Unlike the US's Space-Based Infrared System program or Japan's Ministry of Industrial Trade and Innovation, which successfully foster private sector innovation, India's government funding primarily flows to institutional research in the public sector.
"It's not because they (the government) don't want to do it. The systems are not there," Raju explains.
Future Trajectories
Systemantics stands at an interesting crossroads.
As one of the few companies building truly indigenous robotic arms in India, they're now focusing on partnerships, particularly in healthcare applications. Their partners who are developing solutions centered around their robotic arm for cancer therapy and ultrasound applications showcase the versatility of their technology.
"We want the robotic arm to be completely running on open source, with no proprietary elements except the deepest embedded stuff," Raju shares.
From import dependency to indigenous innovation, from copying to creating, from following to leading, Systemantics has seen it all.
And they’re only getting started.
Today, as they focus on democratizing robotics knowledge through open-source initiatives and partnering with healthcare innovators, Systemantics is doing what seemed impossible two decades ago—proving that India can build world-class robotics technology.
The Visionary: CynLr
Gokul, the co-founder of CynLr, says that his introduction to automation was on his family farm in Tamil Nadu.
In the early 1990s, despite the region being heavily mechanized with harvesters and plantation equipment, certain agricultural tasks remained stubbornly labor-intensive.
This early exposure to the limitations of existing automation would later shape his fundamental approach to robotics and manipulation.
"I grew up in a farm borderline to town, where we faced severe labour shortages," Gokul recalls.
"While we had harvesting machines and plantations, some tasks remained backbreaking problems without solutions. This customer perspective from the farm became my entry point into understanding automation's real challenges."
The Vision Paradigm Shift
Earlier this month, the Bengaluru-based firm recently raised $10 million in its Series A round, from a clutch of marquee investors, including Athera Venture Partners.
What sets CynLr's approach apart is their fundamental rethinking of computer vision and manipulation.
Gokul points out a revelatory statistic to us: ~55% of human brain processing is dedicated to visual tasks, while language processing occupies only ~7-11%. This disparity highlights why vision has been such a challenging frontier in robotics and why traditional approaches have fallen short.
"Vision isn't just about taking pictures and making comparisons," Gokul explains.
"It's our most primal capability. You don't need schooling to learn how to see, unlike learning language or mathematics. When you're touching velvet, tasting ice cream, or listening to music, you close your eyes - reducing visual input because it dominates our processing capacity. This makes vision both essential and incredibly complex to replicate in machines."
This understanding led CynLr to approach vision differently, focusing on the fundamental capabilities needed for a machine to truly "see" and interact with objects, rather than just process images.
A fundamental learning that led him to set the ball rolling at CynLr.
The Technology Market Reality
When they started in 2015, they focused on premium customers first – a strategy Gokul likens to Tesla starting with the Roadster or Apple's initial positioning of the iPhone.
"This space needs humongous investments. You have to build a whole industry around it, a whole supply chain that hasn't been invented yet," Gokul emphasizes.
"Everyone is trying to repurpose existing components and showcase what robotics is not. We're still scavenging for parts built for other purposes and force-fitting them into robotics applications."
One of the most counterintuitive insights from CynLr's experience is how robotics automation delivers value beyond simple labor replacement.
When you replace a human worker with a robot, you're not just replacing one person – you're transforming entire hierarchies, processes, and organizational structures.
Gokul shares a fascinating observation from their work with a firm in Bangalore:
"A robot that is four times slower than a human can produce twice the output. This happens because machines maintain consistent performance levels, while human productivity naturally fluctuates. The real gains come not just from the robot's work, but from the standardization and predictability it brings to the entire process."
India's Strategic Opportunity
For India, the robotics industry represents an opportunity to compete not with China in manufacturing, but with Europe in design and innovation
"We should position ourselves as a design house," Gokul argues.
CynLr prides in making truly ‘intuitive’ robots
"India has a large volume of engineers. Instead of focusing solely on IT services, we need to create 'pockets of Israel' – concentrated zones of deep tech innovation."
However, this transition requires systematic changes.
The current focus on job creation for underskilled markets needs to be balanced with the opportunity to develop high-value intellectual property.
"We can keep existing jobs while making robotics an export industry for the rest of the world," Gokul suggests.
"The narrative shouldn't be about replacement, but about augmentation and value creation."
CynLr's ambition extends far beyond traditional robotics. They envision creating what Gokul calls "object computers" – platforms that could transform manufacturing much like personal computers transformed data processing. This vision would democratize manufacturing in unprecedented ways.
"Imagine if your grandmother's recipe could be not just recorded on YouTube, but actually reproduced perfectly by a robot in your kitchen," Gokul illustrates.
"We want to transform manufacturing from a material-oriented industry to an IP-oriented one. Instead of shipping physical products, we could transmit manufacturing instructions globally, allowing local robots to produce goods on demand."
The Financial Reality and The Long Road Ahead
The financial landscape for robotics startups presents unique challenges. Gokul notes that traditional metrics like revenue growth may not be appropriate for companies building fundamental technology infrastructure.
"When you're building an industry, not just a product, the investment approach needs to be different," he explains.
The robotics industry stands at a crucial juncture. While challenges remain in standardization, infrastructure, and investment, companies like CynLr are laying the groundwork for a transformation that could rival the IT revolution in scale and impact.
The opportunity is massive – while the software and data processing industry has grown from a billion-dollar market in the 1970s to a $12 trillion industry today, the potential for robotics is even larger, touching every physical object in our world.
As Gokul concludes:
"We're not just building a company or a product – we're building an industry. The question isn't whether this transformation will happen, but who will lead it and how we can accelerate it."
The Legacy: TVS
It’s fascinating how TVS Motor's automation journey mirrors the evolution of Indian manufacturing.
In the 1990s, when SK Vijay, General Manager of TVS, joined the company, the manufacturing floor was dominated by Special Purpose Machines (SPMs).
"At that time, if you wanted to launch a new model, you would order SPMs from HMT/BFW" recalls Vijay.
Recognizing the limitations of depending on external vendors for critical manufacturing infrastructure, TVS's leadership made a strategic decision to develop in-house capabilities.
This decision led to the creation of a dedicated Special Purpose Machine division, where Vijay was one of the founding members.
The early years involved intensive hands-on work with castings, scraping, and mechanical systems - the fundamental building blocks of industrial automation.
The Low-Cost Automation Revolution
One of TVS's most significant innovations was its approach to low-cost automation, which served as a bridge between manual operations and full robotics. The company adopted innovative solutions like the ‘Chaku Chaku’ system, where operators only needed to load and unload materials, eliminating unnecessary movement and improving efficiency.
This focus on incremental automation yielded significant productivity gains.
Simple pick-and-place systems using basic cylinders transformed production line efficiency without requiring massive capital investments.
Automation didn't always need to be high-tech or expensive to be effective.
TVS's entry into robotics was methodical and strategic.
Beginning with ex-consultants from L&T, the company gradually built its robotics capabilities, eventually installing 60-70 robots in-house. This experience provided valuable insights into robotics integration and laid the groundwork for more advanced automation initiatives.
The company's approach to robotics implementation was holistic, incorporating simulation before physical installation to ensure perfect execution.
"Before you install, how do you see that everything runs perfectly?" Vijay explains.
The progression to Industry 4.0 marked a new chapter in TVS's automation journey.
A file picture of a TVS manufacturing plant, before the robotics revolution.
Really, the company leveraged its deep experience in electronics and electrical systems to develop sophisticated machine-to-machine communication systems.
"Machines started talking to us and telling us through controllers - how much I produced today, why I did not produce, I am having some problem with my spindle bearing," Vijay describes.
The Robotics Special Interest Group (SIG) and The Journey Ahead
Vijay's experience at TVS led to his appointment as chair of the Robotics Special Interest Group, a consortium including major players like Intel, Mahindra & Mahindra, BOSCH and various startups.
The SIG focuses on several key areas:
Advanced Applications: Exploring cobot and humanoid robot applications beyond basic pick-and-place operations.
Capability Enhancement: Developing ways to augment robot capabilities through additional accessories and functionalities.
Policy Advocacy: Contributing to national robotics policy through recommendations to NITI Aayog.
Standardization: Developing frameworks for testing and certification of robotic systems.
Despite significant progress, India's robotics adoption remains low compared to global standards.
However, he challenges the common misconception that increased robotics adoption leads to job losses, pointing out that countries with high robot density often see increased employment in higher-value roles.
As India aims to become a global manufacturing hub, the TVS experience demonstrates the importance of building indigenous capabilities while staying open to global technologies.
As Vijay concludes, "The productivity will become very high, quality will become very high - these are the thoughts as an SIG."
This comprehensive approach to automation and robotics, combined with a focus on sustainability and workforce development, positions Indian manufacturing for success in an increasingly competitive global marketplace.
“All I can say that adopting Industry 4.0 didn’t just have incremental benefits, it had exponential ones too.”
Pathways
Generated by AI, in the style of Andy Warhol’s silkscreen productions
In this month's edition of Pathways, we delve into thought-provoking reads that challenge our conventional understanding of economics, ethics, rationality and value systems.
These books offer fresh perspectives into human behaviour, but not in abstract terms; what makes them special is their ability to land important messages through material, lived illustrations and watertight data-backed arguments.
Regardless of whether they end up influencing a reader’s personal principles, these are at the least important perspectives that’ll make you wake up and take note.
All three are widely acclaimed in having done so.
"What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets" by Michael J. Sandel.
This compelling work explores the ethical implications of turning everything into a commodity. Sandel, a renowned political philosopher, challenges us to consider where we should draw the line between market values and human values.
Should we pay children to read books or to get good grades? Should we put a price on human life to decide how much pollution to allow? Is it ethical to pay people to test risky new drugs or to donate their organs?
What about hiring mercenaries to fight our wars, outsourcing inmates to for-profit prisons, auctioning admission to elite universities, or selling citizenship to immigrants willing to pay? Sandel offers a thorough argument that’ll make you wonder how we can prevent market-thinking and price tags from reaching aspects of life where they don’t belong.
"Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions" by Dan Ariely
This bestseller turns traditional economic theory on its head by revealing the irrational patterns that govern our decision-making processes. Ariely's work is particularly relevant for those in the startup ecosystem, as it sheds light on consumer behavior and decision-making in ways that pure market analysis might miss. It's a gentle reminder that human behavior often defies the rational actor model we're taught to expect.
"Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist" by Kate Raworth
This groundbreaking book proposes a new economic model that balances essential human needs with planetary boundaries.
Raworth challenges the growth-at-all-costs mentality, offering instead a vision of prosperity that doesn't exhaust our world's resources. For innovators and investors alike, this book presents an opportunity to reimagine success in a way that's sustainable and genuinely progressive.