Dirty, dangerous and dull. These three words have guided Pulkit Gaur's life's work ever since he set up Gridbots, one of India's first robotics companies, in 2007. “We are in places where humans cannot go,” says Gaur, on phone from the company’s head office in Ahmedabad. His robots go into foundries where metal scrap is melted in blast furnaces, with temperatures going up over 1,500 degrees Celsius. In 2011, he created submersible robots—SaUsR (smart automation underwater service robot)—for cleaning tanks at a nuclear facility, where humans are kept out because of the high radiation. This earned him a deal with Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. “I help them solve very difficult, dangerous problems,” says Gaur.
He was declared Innovator of the Year by the MIT Technology Review in 2011 and has also received a TED Fellowship in the US. A mechanical engineering graduate from Jodhpur, he has an enviable portfolio, with clients like the Union home ministry, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, Indian Navy, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, ISRO, and the Gujarat Police. But the pandemic has seen him speed up work on the robo-labourer concept. And they do not deal with dirty, difficult and dangerous work like furnace tapping or radioactive waste.
This story is from the June 27, 2021 edition of THE WEEK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the June 27, 2021 edition of THE WEEK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Between hospital and home
Transitional care centres can add a lot to India's health care system
EFFORT VS EFFECT
The government's attempts to ensure quality drugs is evident, but how well new policies can be monitored on the ground remains to be seen
A way to let go of fear
Accepting the use of adult diapers is a journey with various stages-denial, concealment, rejection and reluctance
Mandeeps & a miracle
Two strangers, one deadly disease and an act of kindness. How Mandeep Mann saved Mandeep Singh, an acute leukaemia patient, by donating his stem cells
The A, B, C of cosmetic surgery
Between eight to 10 lakh cosmetic surgeries happen in India every year. Who is an ideal candidate, and what are the risks and results you can expect?
Vaccines and meningitis
In sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east, and encompassing the northern part of Nigeria, there exists a region known as the African Meningitis Belt (AMB).
Celebrating diversity and inclusivity
As Indians battle it out in our nation's 18th general election, it is again time for voters to reflect on the \"Idea of India\"-or rather, on two duelling ideas of India that are now before us and between which the nation must choose at the ballot box.
Defendant: an Hermès handbag
When Hermès was hit with a class-action lawsuit last month for \"antitrust\" activities, it didn't see it coming. Most of the luxury world has all eyes on this suit, filed by two interested consumers who claim they were denied a purchase, and whether it would go to trial.
A legacy, bound
Amal Allana's biography of her father, Ebrahim Alkazi, is as much personal as it is historical
Cutting-edge chronicle
In his new book, Salman Rushdie's pen is mightier than the knife