We are eager to credit nations like China, Japan, America, and other regions where technological growth is at its height when we think about robots and other revolutionary technological advancements. However, there is no shortage of skill or brilliance in our own nation. Bollywood has offered us a glimpse into the future of what it will be like to engage with and meet a fully developed robot in films like SRK's RaOne and Rajnikant's "Chitti." Do we, however, really need to wait until the future to meet a fully working robot? That too in INDIA? 

Does everyone still recall Sophia, the clever humanoid robot? Yes? What about Shalu? Did you know that Shalu is an Indian robot that can speak up to 38 different languages?  So meet Shalu, an IIT teacher's endeavour to create an Indian humanoid robot that is much more capable than Sophia. The Shalu humanoid robot prototype, created by Dinesh Patel of IIT Bombay's Kendriya Vidyalaya, is notable for a number of reasons. Shalu, an advanced humanoid robot inspired by Chitti, was built by a UP teacher in his home using waste materials. Discover Shalu's journey from conception to completion as you continue reading!

Who is SHALU?

Robot Shalu is a World’s first homemade, artificially intelligent, multilingual, social and educational humanoid robot, made-up of waste materials (including cardboard, wood, and aluminium) and can speak 47 languages (9 Indian and 38 foreign). It is developed by Dinesh Kunwar Patel, a Kendriya Vidyalaya, Computer Science teacher from Mumbai, (native of Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh). Shalu is recognized in the top ten humanoid robots of the world by Danik Bhaskar, Vaartha, TopTen magazine, and Hindustan News. Shalu is also among the top 5 trending Indian robots in the global Tech Market and it stands for- Scientifically designed Uniquely and Highly Advanced Language communicator Humanoid.

What inspired Dinesh Patel to think of this?

After watching the Rajnikant movie "Robot," which featured a humanoid robot called Chitti, Dinesh Patel got the concept for Shalu. This led Patel to ponder whether it was indeed feasible to create a humanoid robot that could mimic human behaviour and emotions. When Robot Sophia was created by Hanson Robotics, a robotics company with headquarters in Hong Kong, his conviction was further strengthened. Dinesh was also motivated to work on "Shalu," by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious initiatives, "Digital India Mission," "Skill India Mission," and "Make in India Mission." Finding the equipment and technology required to build Shalu presented Dinesh with his first difficulties. Dinesh changed his focus to what were readily available and utilised locally acquired and frequently available spare parts, including motors, circuits, plastic, aluminium, cardboard, wood, etc. for the construction with an investment of 50,000 rupees.

What else is SHALU capable of?

Shalu is said to be fluent in nine Indian languages (Hindi, Bhojpuri, Bengali, Gujarati, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, and Nepali) and 38 foreign languages (including English, Japanese, German, French, Italian, Chinese, Spanish). She can recognise and remember people, as well as identify a wide range of common objects. She not only understands human emotions like anger, happiness, laughter, jealousy, and so on, but she can also act on them. Shalu knows how to greet people, shake hands, and recite poems. She can answer factual questions and engage in casual conversations based on the script, by using Artificial Intelligence to understand the meaning of the conversation, solve simple math problems related to Time-Speed-Distance, Simple/Compound Interest, LCM/GCF, Factors, Prime numbers, Armstrong numbers, etc, conduct verbal quizzes and interviews.

Shalu can forecast the weather for the current and next 10 days of any place/location, read horoscopes based on the date of birth, current news, recipes, book reviews, movie reviews and product descriptions. She knows a range of subjects like Physics, Chemistry, General Knowledge, History and Geography, etc. and is capable of giving lectures/presentations in the classroom as well as seminars.

Shalu can also be used as a robot teacher in schools to give a lecture in the classroom based on an uploaded Power-Point Presentation, developed by a human teacher, to answer the queries of students, ask them questions and determine the correctness of given answers too. She can work as a receptionist to respond to customer queries verbally as well as by e-mail and SMS. It can be used as a talking companion to senior citizens and a learning companion for young children too.

Shalu won numerous awards and recognitions. In "Pratishtha World Records" - Shalu has been placed in Pratishtha World Records book under the title “World's First Artificially Intelligent Social and Educational Humanoid Robot made up of waste material” and Robot Shalu is included in the “International Book of Records” with the “Most languages speaking Humanoid Robot made up of waste materials”. Shalu is also included in the "Asia Book of Records" under the title "Humanoid Robot with Maximum Languages".

Patel wants to improve Shalu's functionality and capabilities. In the future, he aims to equip Shalu with a greater presentation of emotions by employing 3D printing, improved movement of body parts by fitting high-quality motors, a latex face mask for facilitating facial expressions and boosting its social abilities, and more! Dinesh Patel's accomplishment carries with it the huge message of- the courage to dream, the intelligence to make a realistic plan and see the plan through to the end.

Image provided by author.