The first thing that catches your eye after entering Santosh Hulawale&rsquo;s Goregaon East residence is the presence of a black and white, Star Wars storm trooper-like humanoid in his living room. The machine rolls on wheels, shakes hands and introduces itself as INDRO &mdash; a shorter version of India&rsquo;s Robot. It then gives details of its height and weight.
<img title="Santosh Hulawale with INDRO at his Goregaon residence. Pic/Suresh Karkera" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/jun/Santosh-Hulawale.jpg" alt="Santosh Hulawale with INDRO at his Goregaon residence. Pic/Suresh Karkera" /> Santosh Hulawale with INDRO at his Goregaon residence. Pic/Suresh Karkera
Santosh (35) took nine years to build the latest humanoid which stands 6.5 feet tall and weighs about 55 kg. &ldquo;I started tinkering with stuff to see how it works at the age of 6. I was inspired by this TV show called Robotix. I made my first robot at 11 and then another one at 13. My father always felt that I was wasting time and asked me to focus on academics.&rdquo;
A networks hardware engineer, Santosh claims he learnt robotics by trial and error.
&ldquo;I saw the humanoids online and found them very amateur. This inspired me to build one for myself and so I started working on it in 2007. I failed twice in 2008 and 2012 and the failure reduced me to tears, as I had invested a lot of hard work and money in the project. I operate a small-time computer business and all the profits earned were diverted towards making INDRO. So far, I&rsquo;ve spent Rs 20 lakh on developing its hardware and software,&rdquo; said Santosh.
Family support Unlike his father, Santosh&rsquo;s mother Kavita supported him through the highs and lows he experienced in the last nine years. &ldquo;He would spend up to 15 hours a day working on his robot. He would barely step out of the bedroom, which looked like a combination of a science lab and a carpenter&rsquo;s workshop. My husband was a mill worker and science was never our cup of tea. But I always believed in my son,&rdquo; she said.
Commenting on his passion for building robots, his wife Shamal added, &ldquo;When we got married in December 2014, I was unaware that he was building a robot. After seeing how passionate he was about the project, I told him to go ahead with it. He started building INDRO in March 2015 and finished it this May.&rdquo;
Composition Listing the raw materials he used to build the humanoid, Santosh said he used aluminium, wood, steel, vinyl, plastic, cardboard, cloth, etc. &ldquo;I have 16 prototypes in mind and want to make robots to help the disabled, fight fire, etc. At present, INDRO can easily lift objects weighing up to 150 kg,&rdquo; he added.
Stating that he now wants to build advanced level humanoids, Santosh said his current concept is very basic. &ldquo;The robot is being operated using a control panel and a joystick, much like a remote-controlled toy car but with advanced features. I had limited funds and had to do everything alone. For my next project, I have ideas for an advanced humanoid. All I need to materialise my vision are funds and a few helping hands. Robotics can&rsquo;t be taught, it is all in the head,&rdquo; he added.

Santosh Hulawale, a networks hardware engineer, spent Rs 20 lakh on making INDRO

Mumbai: 6.5-ft-tall humanoid is Goregaon man's 9-year labour of love

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Home / Mumbai / Mumbai News / Article / Mumbai: 6.5-ft-tall humanoid is Goregaon man's 9-year labour of love

Mumbai: 6.5-ft-tall humanoid is Goregaon man's 9-year labour of love

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