ROBOTICS for Smart Cities.

The rapid expansion of digital technologies has impacted and helped restructure many domains of social life, including production and consumption, how people interact with each other, how they work and behave. Information Communication Technologies and IoT-enabled platforms have opened up avenues not-thought-of hitherto, for managing cities more effectively and efficiently helping transform them into sustainable and smart cities. Smart cities and automation have also been a trigger for the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics in cities helping improve urban service provision, undertaking maintenance and routine work that is difficult or unpleasant for humans, while reducing the costs of maintenance and improving the efficiency of urban infrastructure and services.

The global robotics technology market size was valued at $62.75 billion in 2019, and is projected to reach $170.08 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 13.5% from 2020 to 2027. With the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0, mobile robots have been used for many applications in various fields such as industry, space, defence, and other social sectors. They have been used for material handling, picking, special applications such as disinfectant robots, etc. Therefore, an intelligent mobile robot is required that could travel autonomously in various static and dynamic environments. Several techniques have been applied for mobile robot navigation and obstacle avoidance. For instance, LIDAR - Light Detection and Ranging technology, which is an essential ingredient in robotic autonomy and navigation. It allows mobile robots to extend outside controlled situations and pre-defined task functions in unpredictable and unfamiliar conditions. The benefits provided by SLAM technology include easy navigation without reliance on external technologies and real-time formation of 3D maps with reduced cost and power requirement. Another is Vision system of the robot, which allows the mobiles robot to see its environment as a human see and interpret the information. Vision-based navigation technique uses a computer algorithm and data from optical sensors calculate the optimal path. These sensors collect and process the data in real-time.

“All over the world cities are now being integrated with better communication and information technology connecting everyone and everything together. In a way, they are all progressing towards the smart city transformation. And I feel robotics has a very important role to play in this,” says Rohit Dashrathi, Managing Director, Yantra LLP.

Rohit adds, “The pandemic has certainly opened everyone's eyes to a host of new applications for mobile robotics. Mobile robotics is seen as a potential value addition to any business where transport is either a requirement or a means to achieve a business goal. Take, for example, the e-commerce industry where 'courier bots' can be deployed for last-mile delivery or the construction industry where drones can be used for 3D mapping.

Traffic jams are a pretty common site in any big city. Managing traffic effectively is a big task which is becoming increasing impossible to achieve manually. Smart cities these days have started adopting IoT control systems to minimize the traffic issues. Internet of Things is all about connecting everything via the internet, thus creating a network of physical objects that interact with each other. Traffic signals are mounted with cameras and sensors which can record the road blocks, monitor traffic and even sense weather conditions in particular area and continuously transmit this data to the control centre to take necessary action.

“As the cities are expanding, so is the urban population, eventually increasing the burden on public transport systems. But if you look at the current scenario in a few cities, you will find that app-based availability of rental electric scooters and, real-time tracking of public bus services, app based ticketing systems and online timetables have helped the government to manage the public transport better. I am pretty sure that in near future autonomous vehicles will help improve the overall transport scenario,” Dashrathi point out.

“With the number of smart cities on rise, the future of movement is now imagined to be aerial involving drones/ UAVs and aerial taxis. A good start here is with aerial logistics for retail buying and deliveries. With more and more people opting for online shopping, the Indian e-commerce industry is growing very fast and so is the need for better delivery techniques. Several start-ups are already working on the idea of deploying drones to achieve faster deliveries in the e-commerce area. Even at Yantra, we are considering of entering into the aerial robotics space by the end of this year as I believe it has tremendous applications in the future,” he adds.

Satish Shukla, Co-Founder & Head, Marketing and HR, Addverb highlights some of the application areas where robotics can play a critical role in smart cities. “Robotics can play a great role in improving the manufacturing capacity of a plant or city by standardizing the activities, improving the dataflow etc. Smart cities will lead to the rise of micro fulfilment centers - which are mini distribution centers that holds the inventory customized to the needs of customers. Also robotized delivery systems will become the norm. Warehouses, distribution centres, fulfilment centres and manufacturing plants, will operate on human robot collaboration,” explains Shukla.

The most exciting push for mobile robotics, though, has been into the healthcare facilities
and restaurants. Given the need to reduce human contact and restrict infection spread, robots or AGVs can be deployed for sanitation, UV disinfection, fogging, food and medicine delivery, fulfilling orders in restaurants, etc.“New forms of surveillance, progress in software, hardware and materials development, pervasive digital WiFi networks, information-gathering ICTs (sensors and remote control capabilities)
and global positioning systems (GPS), when coupled with advances in necessary infrastructural support systems, are enabling uniquely new and diverse 'Robotics and Autonomous Systems' (RAS) applications in spaces like hospitals,” adds Shukla.

To successfully fight the pandemic and assist the frontline warriors of Covid-19 Addverb designed and deployed Decimator - a disinfectant mobile robot across hospitals and quarantine centres. This can be used across multiple public places such as shopping malls, airports, railways stations, schools etc to disinfect with UV rays. With 50mj/cm2 UV light, it kills the virus/bacteria/fungi to 99.99% and helps in reducing the contraction of facility acquired infections by keeping the surroundings clean. With the natural navigation capability and the computer vision, Decimator moves from place to place and sprays UV rays in 360 degree.

The company aims to become the world leader for the mobile robotics segment and intends to make India the factory of the world and a hub of innovation for industry 4.0 technologies. In the next three years, we aim to generate revenue of Rs. 4000 crore and looking forward to penetrate the consumer industries such as education, hotels, and airports through another level of breakthrough solutions. Major players in the robotics space are pioneering human-robot collaboration to deliver affordable and sustainable technological solutions.

Going forward, robots will be a critical enabler of the rise of hyper-connected smart cities.

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