Kerala Police has signed an MoU with Kochi-based I Hub Robotics to trial humanoid robots for traffic management, citizen assistance and emergency response, alongside an unmanned ground vehicle for patrolling and disaster management. Three humanoid robots were unveiled at the inaugural ceremony of the c0c0n cyberconference in Kochi on Friday in the presence of home minister Ramesh Chennithala and state police chief Ravada Chandrasekhar.
The project will initially involve trials and customisation of the technology for police use. Ankit Asokan, superintendent of police for cyber operations, said discussions and ideation for the project had been completed. He said some of the technology was currently military grade and would be customised and scaled down for the requirements of the state police before trials and deployment.
The three humanoid robots are named Daksha, a traffic assistant robot; Thara Gen 1, a citizen assistant robot; and Daksha Guardian, intended for emergency response. The agreement also covers Kavach, an unmanned ground vehicle that will undergo appropriate trials and customisation for police operations.
According to Athil Krishna, founder of I Hub Robotics, the company is aiming to deploy the traffic-policing robot within six months. The robot is intended to detect violations and alert a control room immediately. The proposed system would use cameras to monitor the robots and transmit information about violations to police personnel.
The traffic robot is expected to support an automated traffic-policing system, although the report did not specify the locations where the initial trials will be conducted or the types of violations the machine will be authorised to identify. The police deployment will begin in a few areas, with the possibility of expanding it in subsequent years, Krishna said. Confirmed numbers for the deployment are not yet available.
The partnership is being implemented as a public-private partnership between Kerala Police and I Hub Robotics. The companies and police will have to complete the planned trials and customisation before the robots are deployed operationally. The announcement therefore concerns a proposed trial programme rather than a full-scale deployment across Kerala.
Kavach is being considered for patrolling and disaster-management operations. Krishna said the vehicle could be useful during incidents such as landslides, when roads may be inaccessible or not visible and conventional vehicles may be unable to reach affected areas. He said the UGV could climb slopes of approximately 45 degrees, carry a payload of around 2,000kg and operate autonomously. The vehicle is also intended to move without an existing route by creating a path forward, according to the company.
The proposed applications for the robotic systems include monitoring, crowd management and autonomous operations. Krishna also said that the UGV could be customised for crowd-control measures, including the use of tear gas. The source report did not provide details on the legal protocols, human oversight arrangements, procurement cost, data-retention rules or accountability procedures that would govern such uses.
The next step is for Kerala Police and I Hub Robotics to conduct trials, customise the systems for policing requirements and identify the first deployment areas. The company has indicated a target of six months for the traffic-policing robot, while the scale and timing of wider deployment remain unconfirmed.
