A 4-foot-tall humanoid robot called Doozy may just be the party symbol for Tamil Nadu’s IMMK, but it can do much more than that

• The newly-formed India Makkal Munnetra Katchi (IMMK) party's symbol is a robot, so fittingly enough, the Doozy robot was provided for the unveiling of the symbol and the election manifesto earlier this month.
• Doozy is a 4-foot-tall robot with movable hands and legs and can also move its hips.
• “The robot was not created for political parties, our initial purpose was to create a robot for schools where the robot will be something like a teacher. "- Suresh Chandrasekar, founder and chief executive of Doozy Robotics

Indian politicians are more than happy to embrace innovation, particularly for campaigning purposes. In 2014, 10-foot tall 3D holograms of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was contesting the Lok Sabha elections, sprouted in various corners of India to address the electorate. And now, in 2021, the India Makkal Munnetra Katchi (IMMK) party, founded by actor Rajinikanth’s associate Ra Arjunamurthy, has requested over 200 humanoid robots made by Chennai-based Doozy Robotics for campaigning purposes. The newly-formed party’s symbol is a robot, so fittingly enough, the Doozy robot was provided for the unveiling of the symbol and the election manifesto earlier this month.


However, this humanoid robot was built for purposes beyond the odd photo-op. Doozy Robotics was started in February 2019 by founder duo Suresh Chandrasekar and Ajmal Thahseen. That same year, they participated in the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF), where they were shortlisted as one of the top 500 promising startups out of the 54000 participating companies. From robots that can help transport heavy items in warehouses to robots that have been explicitly developed to sanitise an area using ultraviolet rays, the company has a bunch of offerings, but the most special of these are the humanoid robots named Doozy.

Doozy is a 4-foot-tall robot with movable hands and legs and can also move its hips. It uses sensors to walk in a pre-defined location. The robot has an 8-10 hour battery backup, and it will walk straight to the charging station itself when it starts to realise it is ‘weak’. The robot can speak four languages — Tamil, Hindi, English and Chinese — and can answer your queries in these four languages. It can also identify humans it has interacted with earlier and call them by name.


Business Insider spoke to the founder and chief executive of Doozy Robotics, Suresh Chandrasekar, who tells us, “the robot was not created for political parties, our initial purpose was to create a robot for schools where the robot will be something like a teacher. Keeping up with changing trends where in the next 10 years robots will be everywhere, and people have to adapt to that and learn how to create and handle the robots.”

He adds, “The student has to learn from today itself. So to generate curiosity among kids the robot will teach about robotics -- subjects like how to create a robot, what all can a robot do in industrial or home application and the future capabilities of robots.”

This has already been tested in various government schools in Singapore, and promising negotiations are on between Doozy Robotics and the Government of Singapore for supplying these robot teachers. While a robot made in China would cost somewhere around ₹10,00,000, Doozy has priced the humanoid robot at around ₹8,00,000. Apart from that, Doozy can be used in the healthcare and retail industries to interact and provide information to patients or customers.

Another supremely relevant robot made by Doozy is the DUV-A20, an advanced disinfecting robot used primarily in hospitals to sterilise an area completely using ultraviolet lights that eradicate any bacterial DNA in operation theatres and elsewhere. A ‘robot’ needs to do the job because the rays are harmful to humans. While it is not as prevalent in India, primarily due to the cost, it is quite common in European countries. However, given the current pandemic situation, this product is becoming increasingly pertinent in places other than just hospitals like schools, hotels, offices etc., and in India, too, these institutions seem ready to take the plunge for the sake of safety.