Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIM-K) based incubated start-up has come up with an indigenous robotic intervention for the fight against Coronavirus pandemic.

One of the many start-ups of IIM Kozhikode, ispAgro specializes in drone and robotics technology and is mentored by the institute’s business incubator and entrepreneurship development centre.

The startup has been seed-funded by the collaborative initiative between IIM-K LIVE and Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals Limited.

The robot has been developed to replace the manual swab collection process to reduce the threat to frontline health workers involved in test sample collection. 

The robot armed with a 180° rotation gripper is expandable up to 1m in length. With the help of an android app, a technician can easily operate it and regulate its movement beyond a safe physical barrier.

“The unprecedented crisis that the world finds itself in can only be countered by rapid innovations backed by indomitable spirit. The resolve shown by this start-up to come up with this robotic intervention in a short time speaks volumes about how indigenous talents nurtured in a cultivable, creative environment can lead the way in an hour of crisis,” Professor Debashis Chatterjee, Director, IIM Kozhikode said

Adding further, Avinash Rao, Founder – ispAgro Robotics said that the company is planning to enhance the prototype by including AI-based operator less control so that the robot can be deployed at the level of Primary Health Centres (PHCs)