Material handling in factories is a routine process where parts are moved from warehouses to the production line, and finished products are moved from the line to shipping, with these routes being repeated daily. Robots are capable of performing such tasks, and many foreign enterprises already use them.
Versions sold in India are often imported and are expensive. Older systems require adaptation of the building itself, such as laying magnetic strips or floor markers to guide the machine along a fixed path. For a factory already operating on a three-shift basis, this represents a costly disruption before any benefits are gained.
As a result, automation is more often implemented in new facilities, leaving older ones behind. Factories built many years ago continue to use manual trolleys, even where the need for automation is obvious, and the workforce is becoming hard to find.
Hachidori Robotics, based in Bengaluru and founded in 2019, is developing Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) specifically designed to solve this problem. Its founders are Janakiram Annam, Ramanathan Venkataraman, Venkataraman Natarajan, and Krishna Vaidyanathan. Annam serves as CEO, while Venkataraman and Natarajan act as CTO and COO, respectively.
An AMR differs from earlier Automated Guided Vehicles in how it navigates space. A guided vehicle follows a predetermined path embedded in the floor, whereas an autonomous robot independently determines its route using software and sensors, and can change it when obstacles are detected.
The Hachidori system is based on patented indoor positioning technology, which the company compares to an internal version of GPS. Since satellite positioning does not work inside buildings, the robot requires another method of determining its location. The company holds more than three patents related to this development.
The practical advantage lies in ease of implementation. Hachidori claims that its robots can be installed in an operating factory or warehouse without stopping operations or changing the infrastructure required by older systems. Furthermore, the company states that the cost of its machines is about one-third the cost of imported autonomous vehicles.
The product range includes single-unit carriers, tuggers, and pallet lifters, offering eight variants capable of transporting loads ranging from less than 50 kg to 4000 kg. The robots run on LiFePO4 batteries. There are various models for different tasks: a tugger pulls a train of trolleys down a long aisle, while a pallet lifter lifts and moves a single unit of cargo. This wide spectrum allows one supplier to cover most internal movements within the enterprise.
The company sells its solutions to clients in the automotive, consumer, electronics, and pharmaceutical sectors, as well as to warehouse operators. It positions itself as a manufacturer that understands the specifics of Indian conditions, where facility layouts often change. Hachidori claims that its robots can increase material handling efficiency up to threefold.
In the market, it competes with established players in the Indian warehouse robotics sector, such as GreyOrange and Addverb, as well as with imported systems. The main arguments in favor of Hachidori are price and the speed at which the enterprise can begin operating the robots. According to Tracxn data, the company has raised approximately $2.35 million from a group of investors, including the Jacob Hansen Family Trust. The company itself mentioned raising $3 million intended for product development, infrastructure, and hiring personnel.
The number of employees has grown steadily: from approximately 11 people at the end of 2021 to over 120 currently. For a hardware company working with conservative industrial buyers, this growth is a clear indicator that robots are being purchased and put into operation.
In India, there is a problem of dependence on imported equipment, whether it is machines in factories, automation in hospitals or warehouses. Such equipment is often expensive to purchase, slow to maintain, and inaccessible to most enterprises.
iHUB Robotics, founded in Ernakulam, Kochi, in 2022, aims to bridge this gap by manufacturing humanoid robots in India from scratch: including the chassis, embedded systems, and artificial intelligence that controls them.
The company's journey took seven years. Three friends from Kerala—Athil Krishna, Akhil K Haridasan, and Sarat S—began researching humanoid robots in 2018, studying mechatronics in Coimbatore when the Indian ecosystem could barely support such work.
Despite this, they presented their ideas to the government, submitting defense proposals in 2019. In 2020, both the Border Security Force (BSF) and the PMO responded, with the BSF requesting a demonstration. However, the COVID-19 pandemic struck before they could create a working prototype, and the demonstration never took place. In 2022, they resumed work and officially launched iHUB, which is an abbreviation for Innovation Hub for Robotics, to turn research into a finished product.
The first product appeared in 2024—Tara Gen-1. This semi-humanoid service robot can speak over 100 languages, recognize faces and gestures, hold meaningful dialogues, and navigate a room autonomously using SLAM (Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping) technology.
It is released in various modifications: Tara Greet, Tara Learn, and Tara Care, which are adapted for the needs of hospitality, healthcare, education, banking, and public services. About 35 such units have already been deployed in three countries. This was followed by a heavier machine—Daksha, a general-purpose industrial humanoid capable of lifting loads up to 25 kg and operating at heights of eight to ten feet.
The foundation for both robots is what iHUB calls physical AI. Instead of the 'text-in to text-out' logic inherent in large language models, their robots operate on Vision-Language-Action models, which link what the machine sees with the language it understands and the movement it can perform.
The company creates its entire technology stack itself: from manufacturing and embedded systems to fine-tuning models and design, using an object in Kochi, Kalamassery. A corridor spanning about 24,000 square feet allows the robots to master tasks through repetition.
This vertical integration is a key advantage, as is the pricing policy, which allows systems to be used starting from approximately $10,000, significantly lower than the cost of imported humanoids. In January 2025, iHUB became the first Indian company selected for NVIDIA's Humanoid Robotics Program.
iHUB primarily sells its products to enterprises in sectors such as hospitality, healthcare, education, banking, manufacturing, and logistics, and also has a separate line for defense and security. The company has signed memorandums of understanding with EY Global and SAP Germany, as well as several Indian IT and industrial firms.
Tara Gen-1 has been exported to the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Currently, the company is financed by revenues from early projects and prototypes, rather than large external investments. In March 2025, it raised 4.3 crore rupees in a pre-seed funding round from American angel investors. These funds will go towards building the largest humanoid manufacturing plant in India, according to the company.
Future plans include scaling up production, securing research grants, and establishing an R&D center for industrial humanoids in Bengaluru, with plans to hire over 150 employees within two years. In addition to hardware, the founders intend to establish the iHub Training School to prepare students in robotics and AI.
The broader goal, although difficult to achieve, remains unchanged: India must produce humanoids independently, rather than importing them.
