Kerala Police has signed an MoU with Kochi-based I Hub Robotics to trial humanoid robots for traffic management, citizen assistance and emergency response, along with an unmanned ground vehicle for patrolling and disaster operations. Three humanoid robots were unveiled in Kochi on Friday, with trials expected to begin in the coming months.
The robots were presented during the inaugural ceremony of the c0c0n cyberconference in the presence of Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala and state police chief Ravada Chandrasekhar. The project is being implemented as a public-private partnership between the state police and I Hub Robotics.
The three humanoid robots are Daksha, designed as a traffic assistant; Thara Gen 1, intended to assist citizens; and Daksha Guardian, which can be used during emergency response operations. The police will also trial Kavach, an unmanned ground vehicle that the company says can support patrolling, crowd management and disaster response after customisation.
Ankit Asokan, superintendent of police for cyber operations, said the police and company had completed the discussion and ideation phase of the project. He said some of the technology was military grade and would be customised and scaled down for use by the state police. Trials and subsequent deployment would begin soon, he added.
According to Athil Krishna, founder of I Hub Robotics, the traffic robot is intended to detect violations and alert a control room immediately. The company is aiming to deploy it within six months. The robots would be monitored through cameras and could eventually form part of an automated traffic-policing system.
The proposed system would place the robots within an existing chain of command rather than make them independent enforcement agencies. Their role, as described by the company, would include identifying traffic violations, issuing alerts at the location and transmitting information to police control rooms. The report does not specify the legal process for issuing penalties or the safeguards that would govern the use of recorded footage and citizen data.
Kavach is being considered for locations where conventional vehicles or emergency teams may struggle to operate. Krishna said the vehicle could climb slopes of approximately 45 degrees, carry a payload of around 2,000kg and move autonomously even where there was no existing route. Such capabilities could be relevant during landslides, when roads may be blocked, damaged or difficult to identify.
The company said Kavach could also be adapted for crowd-control operations, including the use of tear gas. No confirmed deployment numbers have been announced. The initial plan is to introduce the vehicle in a few areas before considering wider deployment in the following years, according to Krishna.
The proposed applications extend beyond traffic enforcement. The robots may be used for monitoring, crowd management, autonomous operations, citizen assistance and emergency response. The state police and the company have not announced the specific locations for the first trials, the performance criteria that will be used to assess them or the final cost of deployment.
The trial will therefore test both the machines and the institutional systems required to operate them. The police will need to determine where robotic monitoring can support personnel, how alerts will be verified, and how responsibility will be assigned when an automated system detects or reports an incident. The next stated milestone is the start of trials, with the company targeting deployment of the traffic robot within six months.
