A Robotics start-up incubated at the National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad is now on a road show. Robots Alive, as the set-up is called, is visiting campuses across the country in the hope of pitching its robotic arm as a learning tool for students to learn how to make robots.

Most institutional robotics labs — located mainly in the IITs (most universities do not have them yet) — use imported industrial equipment as learning tools. But their inherent use as industrial machines impedes any detailed examination of the same.

This particular robotic arm incorporates certain features of artificial intelligence in that it recognises squares and colours. One of its main USPs is that it is hardy enough to be toyed around by students without getting damaged.

Robots Alive founder Abheek Bose, who is yet to christen the robot, said: “If somebody splashes water on an industrial robot by accident, it will be damaged and you’ll have to fix it up and pay money. How do we protect the sensitive parts and the electronics? That’s where design comes in.”

Darsharha Sevak, a toy design student at NID, teamed up with Bose’s five-member team of engineers as part of his two-month industrial training programme, working first with thermocol to design the casing of the robot, before finally creating it with Polyvinyl chloride — a plastic.

The material does help with matters relating to its weight — the nameless robot weighs about 10 kilograms — “light enough to drive around in your car and take it around and showcase it in campus fests and teaching sessions,” as Bose says.

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