Robotics for Impact Challenge

Robotics for Impact is a joint call by Digital Impact Square (DISQ), TCS Foundation and I-Hub Foundation for Cobotics (IHFC), Technology Innovation Hub of IIT-Delhi.

Digital Impact Square (DISQ), a TCS Foundation Initiative is an Open Social Innovation Center that aims to create sustainable social impact through skills of entrepreneurship and a deep appreciation of the complex nature of social challenges in India. Each year, we invite applications from young innovators (below 27 years) across India to come on a comprehensive 12 to 18-month journey to convert their passion and ideas into a compelling social enterprise that addresses a ‘wicked’ social challenge in the country

I-Hub Foundation for Cobotics (IHFC) is the Technology Innovation Hub of IIT-D set up under the NM-ICPS mission, a Department of Science Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India. IHFC is tasked with creating an eco-system for commercialization of the developed technology into products for application into various target sectors like: Medical Robotics, Agriculture/Disaster Management, Defence and Factories/MSMEs. IHFC directly works with 100+ faculty from IIT Delhi, other universities such as IITs, IIITs, NITs, apart from the 25+ incubated/mentored start-ups in this domain.

This initiative is looking for teams of Young Innovators with an entrepreneurial bent of mind, who want to turn an idea or a concept into a successful social enterprise. They should be willing to commit for the next 12-18 months to further their cause in the area of Robotics. An early-stage startup, which is keen on growing and scaling its innovation will also be a perfect fit for the program.

A confluence of emerging technologies across AI, computer vision, sensing, algorithms, advanced materials, and computing has led to an unprecedented and enterprising attempt to integrate robotics into the real-world. There is a growing realization that robotics will find new applications across a wide range of problems where human engagement is either risky or our effectiveness can be enhanced significantly by working alongside a robot/cobot.

This call invites innovators, researchers, and entrepreneurs from across the country who are currently working on robotics to address a social challenge or national priority, such as, agriculture defence, healthcare and industry4.0 and beyond. Some application areas where we believe robotics can create tremendous impact are:

a) Robotics in health/medicine – Precision laboratory companions, safe work environments, routine service tasks, Nanorobotics etc.

b) Robotics and rehabilitation – automation and standardization of therapy, compliance-adherence data gathering for rehabilitation

c) Robotics in disasters & hazards – replace high-risk human tasks, surveillance, and monitoring of hazardous environments

d) Robotics in Agriculture – Assist in high-risk tasks, pick-sort-place, monitoring and reporting of alerts, precision sow/spray and maintenance

e) Robotics in Defence – Human-Robot teams, independent task assignment, execution, and reporting, tracking surveillance and monitoring of assets etc.

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