One of the founders, Arun George, says, “We started our company as a students’ start-up in 2015., Jaleesh P. and Vishnu P. “Thus we built the ‘Bandicoot’. This robotic suit could help them stand up, walk and even climb steps. We realised the gravity of the situation and decided to find a solution to this as a team.” Explaining the features of the robot, Arun says, “It is user-friendly. It weighs about 80 kg. “Though we were working with other companies, we were always in touch, discussing various projects.

Our first project was a powered exoskeleton suit — a wearable robotic suit that allows for limb movement with increased strength and endurance. Named after the rat that digs out the waste from holes and ground.” This technology got them selected for incubation under National Taipei University of Technology and the suit is currently being developed  in Taiwan. The team has also received support from the Kerala Water Authority under Kerala Water Authority Innovation Zone.” They have also been approached by different authorities from other states. By then all of us had quit from our respective companies so that we could devote more time for this project. That’s when we came across news regarding manhole scavenger deaths. It was also found that no machine is currently present to remove this kind of waste material, which is why a human has to enter manually and clean the manhole. That is exactly what the machine does. A man who knows how to operate a mobile phone can easily operate this machine. The design has been verified.”.” He adds, “A lot of research went into it. “Our aim is to make Kerala the first manual scavenging-free state in India. The world is moving towards a new dawn.” The team then conducted a survey in the Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram sewer divisions and found that manhole and sewer lines are jammed because of the household and hotel waste dumped into them. The robot is also equipped with a bucket and a shovel with arm, which can rotate 360 degrees and collect hard waste and bring it up to the surface.K.Screen grab from the short movie The Manual Scavengers of Mumbai.

The founders are Vimal Govind M. These scavengers are mostly half drunk and semi-naked when they lower themselves into these holes. And so, we finally registered as a company. This information made us determined to find a solution., Sreejith Babu E. We are planning to train those who were once involved in manual scavenging to use these machines. However, there is one section of the public that unfortunately bears the brunt of the very idea of clean India — Dalits, who belong to the Balmiki or Valmiki caste. The first level of prototyping is complete, it is ready for real-time ground testing right now. The built is based on the standard size of a manhole.K, Rashid K. We found that despite the enactment of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, manual scavenging was still very much in practice. It can also remove a manhole cover, which is a heavy task. conveyor belts Factory Team GenRobotics with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan after signing the MOU with Kerala Water Authority. The robot can be attached to the current existing technologies used in manhole cleaning, such as water jet positioning machine. Our second project was developed to assist the physically challenged. One of the main reasons for deaths inside a manhole is the presence of poisonous gas.B, Afsal Muttikkal, Sujodh K. It can work in automated mode. They gave us financial support for the first step. BandicootA group of young and passionate engineers found this extremely disturbing and wanted to find a solution. The people involved in the work are not provided with any protective gears.

So we approached the Kerala Start-up Mission with this project. The year 2018 kicked off with the news of seven manual scavengers’ death in a span of seven days. These young engineers are the co-founders of GenRobotic Innovations, a company that specialises in powered robotic exoskeletons, RC Controlled Humanoid Systems and AI. A cleaner living space is what the current Union government has in mind. We are planning to pilot test our robot on February 15, before Attukal Pongala.” The robot has received Indian patent and the team has applied for international patent.After their graduation, the team members went ahead to work with different companies.P. “They have agreed to support us in the next phase.A group of youngsters troubled by the deaths of manual scavengers have found a unique solution to the problem., Arun George, Nikhil N. It also comes with image processing for efficient functioning