For the very first time in India, six students from a college in Chennai have conceptualized and developed a life-size humanoid robot driven by artificial intelligence.
Developed by third year students pursuing their Bachelors in Computer Applications at Shri Shankarlal Sundarbhai Shasun Jain College for Women, the human interfacing robot, SARA, was made entirely by students with the help of their teachers and in association with Do-it-Yourself Academy (DIYA), a robotics training centre in Chennai. SARA was launched at their annual cultural fest Shreyas.
SARA (Shasun’s Adaptive Robotic Assistant) is 6 feet tall and weighs 29.2 kgs. She is equipped with an inbuilt sensor that enables her to recognize movement and supports a webcam with inbuilt face recognition technology. She currently knows only English but is quickly learning Tamil and other languages. The robot has a 7-inch tablet as an interface and is remote controlled. The Android application to control SARA was custom-built by the students with the help of DIYA.
SARA will act as the first-level of interaction with visitors to the college. “The robot will answer any questions visitors have. It will tell visitors about the college and guide them around the campus, too. It has a built-in sensor with facial recognition technology, so if you greet it again, it will call you by name,” said Madhumitha R., who, along with Khushi A., S. Vithika, R. Hemapriya, S. Nivedeinee and M. Bhavana Kanooga, developed the robot.
Picture Credit : Google
