Latest news with #SaurabhChandra
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Business Standard
30-07-2025
- Automotive
- Business Standard
Why Ati's humanoid will skip parties and go straight to factory floors
Inside Saurabh Chandra's Bengaluru-based robotics lab, India's deep-tech story takes a bold turn with Sherpa Mecha, a machine built not to mimic humans, but to outperform them Abhijeet Kumar New Delhi Listen to This Article In a quiet corner of Bengaluru's startup ecosystem, far from the glamour of apps and fintech, Ati Motors is working on what may be India's most ambitious bet in deep-tech: industrial humanoid robots. The company recently unveiled Sherpa Mecha, a robot built not to replicate humans in form or function, but to surpass them in industrial tasks. 'Most humanoids want to mimic a person as closely as possible,' says Saurabh Chandra, founder and CEO of Ati Motors. 'Our approach is different — we want a superhuman.' Launched at its 2025 Product Day event last week, Sherpa Mecha is the latest
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Business Standard
23-07-2025
- Automotive
- Business Standard
India enters humanoid robotics race with Sherpa Mecha as China surges ahead
At its Product Day 2025 event, Indian robotics startup Ati Motors unveiled what could mark a pivotal moment for India's deep-tech sector — the debut of Sherpa Mecha, a humanoid-inspired robot engineered for industrial deployment. Unlike fully human-like robots, Sherpa Mecha is function-first — designed to carry out high-precision tasks in complex factory environments, the company said in a press release. The robot's launch highlights a quiet but bold ambition — building world-class robotic platforms from India that are scalable, intelligent, and export-ready. Sherpa 10K and India's expanding industrial robot ecosystem The company also launched Sherpa 10K, a heavy-duty autonomous mobile robot (AMR) capable of carrying loads up to five tonnes with millimetre-level accuracy. These platforms are already running over 1 million autonomous missions per year across Southeast Asia, the US, and Mexico. Sherpa 10K, a robust autonomous tugger engineered for the most demanding Indian and global industrial environments, with a tugging capacity of up to 5 tonnes. 'Every Sherpa deployed is a testament to India's capabilities in advanced engineering and AI, given that it takes an ecosystem to deliver these and not just the ingenuity of a single startup,' said Saurabh Chandra, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Ati Motors. Where are humanoids being used in India today? India's humanoid applications are still largely in the exploratory stage. Ati's Sherpa Mecha is tailored to industrial automation — assembly lines, material handling, and quality inspection — but remains in testing phases. Elsewhere: Invento Robotics developed 'Mitra,' a semi-humanoid used in hospitality and health care Isro is preparing Vyommitra, a spacefaring humanoid, for Gaganyaan missions in Q4 2025 DRDO is prototyping humanoids for military and hazardous environments Addverb Technologies, backed by Reliance, is set to launch a dual-arm humanoid in 2025 Despite this activity, India is far from mass-scale deployment in logistics, elder-care, or public services — sectors where China is already forging ahead. What is India's humanoid market size? India's humanoid-robot market is in a nascent but growing phase. Cognitive Market Research estimates the market to be worth $75.4 million in 2025 with a CAGR of 44 per cent. Other projections suggest it could grow from $42 million in 2023 to $149 million by 2030 at 20 per cent CAGR. In contrast, China's investment and market penetration remain significantly higher. How is China accelerating humanoid deployment? China has aggressively positioned humanoid robotics as a strategic industry. In 2024 alone, central government support topped $20 billion, with additional city-level robotics funds in Beijing and Shanghai. According to Reuters, state procurement of humanoid robots rose from RMB 4.7 million in 2023 to over RMB 214 million in 2024. Chinese startups such as AgiBot, MagicLab, EngineAI, Unitree and UBTech are leading deployments into public service and manufacturing. UBTech's Walker S2 became the world's first humanoid to autonomously swap its own battery and operate 24/7 without human breaks. What sectors are Chinese humanoids targeting? Deployment is most advanced in: Manufacturing: Robots are already assisting in automotive plants (BYD, Geely, FAW-Volkswagen) Logistics and electronics: Pilots by MagicLab and AgiBot are underway Elder-care and home services: Projects by Ant Lingbo (Ant Group) and Tencent's Robotics X Lab are testing use cases for caregiving and companionship How does the global humanoid robot market compare? According to China Briefing, China's humanoid market is expected to grow from $380 million in 2024 to $10.3 billion by 2029, capturing nearly a third of global market share. Global forecasts: Markets and Markets: From $2.03 billion in 2024 to $13.25 billion in 2029 Goldman Sachs: $38 billion market potential by 2035, shipping 1.4 million units Morgan Stanley reports that 61 per cent of all humanoid models unveiled between 2022 and 2025 originated in China. What's the status of Elon Musk's Tesla Optimus? Tesla's Optimus project has shown promise but faces hurdles. Despite Musk's projection of 10,000 units by 2025, production halted after just 1,000 due to technical issues like overheating joints. Optimus leads in AI 'brain' capabilities, but China dominates in physical manufacturing and cost efficiency. Why are humanoids seen as a strategic priority? Humanoid robots are increasingly viewed as solutions to workforce shortages, rising labour costs, and demographic decline. They are being positioned as the next big economic engine — akin to PCs, smartphones, and electric vehicles. How are other countries responding? South Korea: Launched the K-Humanoid Alliance in April 2025, targeting deployment by 2028 Japan: Though a pioneer in humanoid robotics, it is slower in scaling up newer models Europe and the US: Maintain software and AI leadership but lag in hardware volume and affordability Analysts widely believe China may reach commercial-scale humanoid deployment before its Western rivals — thanks to strong state backing and superior supply-chain integration.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Function over flash: Specialized robots attract billions with efficient task handling
By Akash Sriram (Reuters) -These robots don't break into a jig or jump, but their ability to do single tasks cheaply and efficiently is attracting investor dollars as focus shifts to function from flash. Far from the sleek humanoids of science fiction that are meant for complex and adaptive work, boxy and utilitarian robots - some the size of industrial tool chests - are built to handle tasks such as hauling parts, collecting trash or inspecting equipment. Interest has been rising in such specialized robots as they offer a clear path to profitability, given the stress on automation across industries, including retail, defense and waste management, company executives, analysts and investors told Reuters. In contrast, makers of general-purpose humanoids are still grappling with technical challenges, including limited training data and difficulty operating in unpredictable real-world environments, to make them viable. Data from PitchBook shows robotics companies globally raised $2.26 billion in the first quarter of 2025, with more than 70% of that capital funneled into firms making task-focused machines. The funding reflects a broader global race to robot supremacy. From Shenzhen to Silicon Valley, companies are trying to develop machines that can take on physical work, with China emerging as a major player thanks to ample government support. The push has been fueled by advances in chip technology, which has enabled more sophisticated AI models that allow robots to perceive, process and react without needing remote servers. "With Nvidia's Orin NX, we were able to put far more AI models on the edge than we could earlier," said Saurabh Chandra, CEO of Ati Motors, referring to Nvidia's high-performance AI chip designed to run multiple machine learning models directly on edge devices such as robots, without relying on the cloud. Based in India's tech capital of Bengaluru, Ati Motors makes robots that can tug around more than 1,000 kilograms on factory floors and industrial sites. Ati Motors has deployed hundreds of robots across more than 50 factories globally, including at Hyundai, Forvia, and Bosch, with its flagship Sherpa Tug logging over 500,000 kilometers in operation. In healthcare, Austin-based Diligent Robotics is seeing traction with Moxi, a robot that handles non-patient-facing tasks such as delivering supplies, medications and lab samples. "We've found that by solving a very specific problem in a high-need area like healthcare, we can create a sustainable business model," Diligent Robotics CEO Andrea Thomaz said, adding Moxi has reached product-level profitability. HUMANOID CHALLENGES The interest comes as general-purpose humanoids face challenges such as teaching machines to navigate unpredictable environments and developing sophisticated reasoning abilities. Unlike generative AI, which is trained on vast online datasets of text, images and audio, the data available to develop humanoid robots is far more limited. These machines must learn by interacting with the physical world and training on datasets focused on tasks such as stacking boxes. Firms like Figure AI, which aims to ship 100,000 humanoid robots over the next four years, rely on advanced AI to process real-time sensory data. That means such robots are mostly confined to controlled environments such as car factories. The cost of humanoids is also far higher than task-specific robots. Components such as cameras and lidar sensors can push manufacturing costs for humanoid robots to between $50,000 and $200,000 per unit, compared with $5,000 to $100,000 for task-specific machines, according to industry executives and a market study by startup Standard Bots. "(True) general-purpose robots have not really been invented yet," said Marc Theermann, strategy chief at Boston Dynamics, adding that "if somebody claims that they are commercially finding a general-purpose robot, they are over-promising and they will under-deliver." While the company's Atlas robot has made headlines with viral clips of it leaping, flipping and dancing, Theermann said the value currently lies in targeted designs. Its four-legged robot, Spot, excels in hazardous industrial inspections, a narrow but lucrative niche. Era Ventures has backed ViaBot, whose autonomous machines manage trash collection in parking lots. Parkway Venture Capital has diversified its bets between Siera AI's forklift automation and Figure AI's humanoid ambitions. "You'll see a transition where there will be robots built for a task doing something very useful, very cost-effectively," said Raja Ghawi, Partner at Era Ventures. "And as that gets better, people will realize there is a good reason to have a full humanoid." Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Function over flash: Specialized robots attract billions with efficient task handling
By Akash Sriram (Reuters) -These robots don't break into a jig or jump, but their ability to do single tasks cheaply and efficiently is attracting investor dollars as focus shifts to function from flash. Far from the sleek humanoids of science fiction that are meant for complex and adaptive work, boxy and utilitarian robots - some the size of industrial tool chests - are built to handle tasks such as hauling parts, collecting trash or inspecting equipment. Interest has been rising in such specialized robots as they offer a clear path to profitability, given the stress on automation across industries, including retail, defense and waste management, company executives, analysts and investors told Reuters. In contrast, makers of general-purpose humanoids are still grappling with technical challenges, including limited training data and difficulty operating in unpredictable real-world environments, to make them viable. Data from PitchBook shows robotics companies globally raised $2.26 billion in the first quarter of 2025, with more than 70% of that capital funneled into firms making task-focused machines. The funding reflects a broader global race to robot supremacy. From Shenzhen to Silicon Valley, companies are trying to develop machines that can take on physical work, with China emerging as a major player thanks to ample government support. The push has been fueled by advances in chip technology, which has enabled more sophisticated AI models that allow robots to perceive, process and react without needing remote servers. "With Nvidia's Orin NX, we were able to put far more AI models on the edge than we could earlier," said Saurabh Chandra, CEO of Ati Motors, referring to Nvidia's high-performance AI chip designed to run multiple machine learning models directly on edge devices such as robots, without relying on the cloud. Based in India's tech capital of Bengaluru, Ati Motors makes robots that can tug around more than 1,000 kilograms on factory floors and industrial sites. Ati Motors has deployed hundreds of robots across more than 50 factories globally, including at Hyundai, Forvia, and Bosch, with its flagship Sherpa Tug logging over 500,000 kilometers in operation. In healthcare, Austin-based Diligent Robotics is seeing traction with Moxi, a robot that handles non-patient-facing tasks such as delivering supplies, medications and lab samples. "We've found that by solving a very specific problem in a high-need area like healthcare, we can create a sustainable business model," Diligent Robotics CEO Andrea Thomaz said, adding Moxi has reached product-level profitability. HUMANOID CHALLENGES The interest comes as general-purpose humanoids face challenges such as teaching machines to navigate unpredictable environments and developing sophisticated reasoning abilities. Unlike generative AI, which is trained on vast online datasets of text, images and audio, the data available to develop humanoid robots is far more limited. These machines must learn by interacting with the physical world and training on datasets focused on tasks such as stacking boxes. Firms like Figure AI, which aims to ship 100,000 humanoid robots over the next four years, rely on advanced AI to process real-time sensory data. That means such robots are mostly confined to controlled environments such as car factories. The cost of humanoids is also far higher than task-specific robots. Components such as cameras and lidar sensors can push manufacturing costs for humanoid robots to between $50,000 and $200,000 per unit, compared with $5,000 to $100,000 for task-specific machines, according to industry executives and a market study by startup Standard Bots. "(True) general-purpose robots have not really been invented yet," said Marc Theermann, strategy chief at Boston Dynamics, adding that "if somebody claims that they are commercially finding a general-purpose robot, they are over-promising and they will under-deliver." While the company's Atlas robot has made headlines with viral clips of it leaping, flipping and dancing, Theermann said the value currently lies in targeted designs. Its four-legged robot, Spot, excels in hazardous industrial inspections, a narrow but lucrative niche. Era Ventures has backed ViaBot, whose autonomous machines manage trash collection in parking lots. Parkway Venture Capital has diversified its bets between Siera AI's forklift automation and Figure AI's humanoid ambitions. "You'll see a transition where there will be robots built for a task doing something very useful, very cost-effectively," said Raja Ghawi, Partner at Era Ventures. "And as that gets better, people will realize there is a good reason to have a full humanoid." Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
NBC News
27-02-2025
- Health
- NBC News
Senior citizens are rattled by news that telehealth coverage could expire next month
If Congress doesn't act, on April 1, the prior rules will largely be restored, which means that most telehealth appointments will only be covered if they're provided in person at rural medical facilities. There will be exceptions for certain services, such as mental health care and some visits for home dialysis treatments. A lapse could have ramifications for millions of Medicare beneficiaries. Roughly 13% of the nearly 22 million people with traditional coverage received a telehealth service between October and December 2023. Dr. Cecil Bennett, a family medicine physician in Newnan, Georgia, outside Atlanta, estimates that half of his clinic's patients are on Medicare. Some already have telehealth appointments scheduled months out. He often uses telehealth to deliver simple information, like lab results, and fears that some patients may miss necessary appointments if they require an in-person visit, allowing conditions to worsen. 'There's no doubt in my mind that seniors are going to suffer if this waiver goes away,' he said. In Mississippi, Dr. Saurabh Chandra, chief telehealth officer at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, said the flexibilities can mean the difference between older adults having a virtual appointment at 2 a.m. during a busy flu season or traveling long distances to an emergency room. 'This state was made for telehealth,' he said. As Congress clashes over a GOP-led House proposal to slash Medicaid spending, advocates are hopeful that telehealth services offered via Medicare will remain a bipartisan cause. 'Federal government does things last minute,' said Kyle Zebley, senior vice president for public policy at the American Telemedicine Association. 'We have a wonderful place in being bipartisan that we find ourselves in a very divided, very polarized time,' he said. 'We'll continue to work to do all we can to maintain that.' Telehealth, though, hasn't been immune from political crossfire. What initially started as a two-year extension for the program shrank to three months during the scramble last December to avoid a government shutdown after President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk pushed to kill a broader spending bill. Some members of Congress hope to allay older adults' concerns and make the flexibilities permanent. In a statement to NBC News, Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., who co-introduced a bipartisan bill to solidify the provisions when she served in the House, described the flexibilities as 'vital' — 'especially for those in underserved and rural communities and those with accessibility or transportation barriers' — and said she was still fighting for permanent protections. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., whose viral social media posts brought attention to the looming deadline, said he plans to introduce similar legislation. 'What is the rationale for this other than making life more difficult for many seniors?' Khanna said in a post on X. With the fate of telehealth still uncertain, Bennett is waiting to see whether the appointments he's booked can proceed. 'I really hope that Congress acts quickly,' Bennett said. 'I know that they kick the can down the road — I'm fine with that as long as they keep kicking the can.'
