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Time of India
09-05-2025
- Science
- Time of India
DRDO Pune lab developing humanoid robot for military operations
Pune: A team of scientists from the Research and Development Establishment (Engineers) of the is developing a for various defence applications essential for operational robot, designed to operate under human command, aims to participate in high-risk , thereby reducing soldiers' exposure to life-threatening scenarios. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The robot was showcased at the three-day national workshop on advanced legged robotics, which began in Pune on Thursday. This is the first time the DRDO has publicly showcased a technological demonstration in this field."The humanoid robot consists of a complex operating system that functions through a combination of advanced software and sensors. We have currently developed prototypes for both the lower and upper bodies of the robot and have achieved some applications during our internal testing," SE Talole, Group Director at the Centre for Systems and Technologies for Advanced Robotics of the R&D Establishment (Engineers), told TOI. The team has been working on the project for the past four years and has completed the initial stages of development. Once fully operational, the humanoid upper body system would have the ability to perform complex autonomous operations with closed-loop gripping. It will also be capable of turning, pushing, pulling or sliding doors, pushing obstacles, opening valves, and operating in high-risk zones. The robot should be able to process and successfully execute commands given by the operator, according to scientists. The functioning of the robot is based on three principles — actuators act as muscles to generate movement, sensors gather information, and control systems process this information."The challenging aspects for us are to execute various tasks seamlessly. To achieve that, we need to ensure high-level balancing, information processing, and execution on the ground," said Talole. "Our team is working on achieving these three objectives in the advanced phases of development. Our aim is to complete the task by 2027," said Kiran Akella, a scientist leading the design legged robots being developed by the DRDO's premier research laboratory in Pune have the potential to be put in use by Indian Armed fully functional, the humanoid upper body system would have a lightweight arm with spherical revolute joint configuration. It would have 24 degrees of freedom, including seven in the arm, four in the gripper, and two in the has been designed to safely handle hazardous objects such as mines, explosives, and liquids using both arms collaboratively. It can perform operations at day or night, indoors or outdoors. Audiovisual perception, multiple proprioceptive and exteroceptive sensing abilities, data fusion, and tactical sensing would also be humanoid biped system has been designed to possess stability, control, and balance while navigating unstructured would have real-time dynamics and kinematics, besides capabilities for fall and push recovery, and real-time map generation and planning and simultaneous localization and mapping in unstructured terrain as well as the ability to perform complex autonomous operations in high-risk zones are also features that the humanoid biped system would global players have also been developing effective humanoid robots for military purposes, with some countries already in the process of inducting these robots for logistics and other robotic systems, such as bipedal and quadrupedal robots, have numerous practical applications in various fields, including military and security, medical services, home services, space exploration, and manufacturing. However, the design and development of autonomous legged robots face a variety of technological challenges, an official said.
Indian Express
08-05-2025
- Science
- Indian Express
As Pune DRDO facility reaches key milestones in humanoid development, former chairman puts focus on robotic soldier
Former DRDO chairman G Satheesh Reddy on Thursday highlighted the country's ambitious vision of developing a robotic soldier and positioning India as a frontrunner in the field. His remarks came as DRDO's premier laboratory in Pune, Research and Development Establishment (Engineers), has reached significant milestones in humanoid robot development. Reddy, who was DRDO chairman and scientific advisor to the defence minister and is currently advisor to the Andhra Pradesh government, was speaking at the national workshop on Advanced Legged Robotics in Pune. The three-day workshop, which began on Thursday, has been organised by the R&DE(E) in association with College of Engineering Pune Technological University under the aegis of Pune chapter of the Indian Society of Systems for Science and Engineering. The legged robotic systems — such as bipedal and quadrupedal robots — have a wide range of practical applications across sectors, including defence and security, healthcare, domestic assistance, space exploration and in industries. However, the design and development of autonomous legged robots present numerous technological challenges. The workshop aims to shed light on key technological domains and critical areas associated with the advancement of legged robotic systems. In his inaugural address, Reddy said, 'The industries and academic institutes are contributing in a big way to the advancements in the field of robotics. I don't think there's any good institute in the country where at least one person isn't working on robotics. In almost all institutions, individuals and teams are working on some kind of robot. But these efforts need to be synergised in the light of the major advancements in the related fields of Artificial Intelligence, material sciences, computational technologies, power sources. How will this synergy come, who will take this lead, can be deliberated upon in this conference.' 'Government of India is creating structures in a focused manner towards work in certain areas. There are so many missions that the government has launched. It includes Artificial Intelligence Mission, Deep Tech mission, Quantum mission among others. So can we impress upon the government to come up with advanced robotic or humanoid related mission, which can spearhead the development in the country? The national mission will also be helpful to other domains. The R&DE Engineers should be able to come up with a robotic soldier and related applications. I am happy that this conference is happening on a very serious technology driven subject. I am sure that all the people sitting here and all the teams working in the field will be able to take the work forward. And we hope to see the dream of having a robotic soldier is realised with our country being the frontrunner in this direction,' Reddy said. His remarks on development of robotic soldiers comes at a time when the Centre for Systems and Technologies for Advanced Robotics (C-STAR) at the R&DE(E) has reached key milestones in the development of a humanoid. The C-STAR targets the development of robotic mule and humanoid as their primary goals; however, in the long term the centre will be developing technologies in the areas of biomimetic robots, collaborative operations of multiple robotic elements, Swarm robots, flexible bio-inspired robots, advanced control, efficient actuators, low energy motion and Cognition, officials have said. Officials said the two key system of the humanoid project, the humanoid upper body and humanoid stage-1 Biped which were at display at the workshop venue, have achieved important milestones. The humanoid upper body is designed to push, pull or slide doors, push obstacles and perform operations in high-risk zones. It can also safely handle hazardous objects like mines, explosives, liquids collaboratively with both arms and perform operations day, night, indoor and outdoor. The Stage-1 Biped has been designed to have the stability, control and balance during locomotion in unstructured terrain, fall and push recovery, real time map generation and navigation and can perform complex autonomous operations in high-risk zones. Among the key dignitaries present at the conference were Dr BHVS Narayana Murthy, Vice Chancellor of the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, Sunil Bhirud, Vice Chancellor of College of Engineering Pune Technological University, Ankathi Raju, Director of the Armament Research and Development Establishment, and Makarand Joshi, Director R&DE(E). SE Talole of R&DE(E) is the convener of the workshop. Sushant Kulkarni is a Special Correspondent with The Indian Express in Pune with 12+ years of experience covering issues related to Crime, Defence, Internal Security and Courts. He has been associated with the Indian Express since July 2010. Sushant has extensively reported on law and order issues of Pune and surrounding area, Cyber crime, narcotics trade and terrorism. His coverage in the Defence beat includes operational aspects of the three services, the defence research and development and issues related to key defence establishments. He has covered several sensitive cases in the courts at Pune. Sushant is an avid photographer, plays harmonica and loves cooking. ... Read More
