Robodel: Robot courier is a reality
Armenian State University of Armenia, within the frames of the grant program “Innovation constituent of startups” of the grant program “From Idea to Business” awarded by RA Ministry of High-Tech Industry, implements a project aimed at transferring necessary knowledge and practical skills to startup representatives, provide business connections to expand favorable conditions to develop their business. Beneficiaries of the acceleration program are 6 startups from different spheres. Within the frames of the program, starting from February 22, thematic learning courses as well as cooperation stage with mentors have started and continue at ASUE Change Lab where participants get acquainted with problems of intellectual property protection of startups, funding stages and investment instruments, fund-raising, digital marketing and branding.
ASUE Division of Marketing and PR starts a series of publications on 6 startups: the first one was devoted to Zleenk startup, and the second one to Gabby, and this publication is about Robodel.
The aim of Robodel is the creation of robot couriers and the startup founders work on its implementation.
How was Robotel created?
“Our co-founder Artak Meloyan who lives in America, one day, out of curiosity, has ordered some things on the website of the Starship Company (the USA) that operates robots to deliver the goods to customers. The company notified that it will deliver the order in 3 hours (3 km away) from the shop that is too much time for such a short distance. Artak became interested as a specialist and bought a small automated car (with a remote control) from the shop, has changed the chip and schemes, has developed a special algorithm and operated the car to perform simple actions” – the co-founder Hayk Kosyan tells about the startup establishment to www.asue.am. Artak also acquired other robots, coded and operated them and this all demonstrated that he should think about the design of robot couriers.
Who are the initiators of the startup?
In summer 2020, after the initial experiments, Artak Meloyan from America, Hayk Kosyan from Armenia and Oninda Hashuordhuri from India jointly created the Robodel that was registered in spring 2021. “Three of us cover 80 percent of the necessary specializations for the business. I majored in finance and legal rights, Artak is a data scientist and economist and is proficient in programming languages and Oninda is a robotics specialist. Our cooperation is successful in this respect and we have a team of 15 people including 6 PhDs in Technical Sciences, one engineer from NASA and they all work without any salary as everybody is interested in the project” – Hayk pointed out.
On the creation of Robodel
Initial experiments were carried out in summer 2020 and the startup was established in spring 2021.
Robot on the streets of Yerevan: what is the design of the startup now?
“Some more months and the first physical robot will be in Armenia to test the streets of Yerevan” - Hayk says and adds that they have developed all the algorithms within one and a half year, tested the program in virtual reality and are currently preparing the prototype of the first robot by means of grants. “Big part of the electronics is already in Armenia, the other part will soon arrive and we will start the assembly process. It is still early to consider the production in the assembly line factory as our goal is to prepare the first group of robots and operate them in the USA and then get investment and produce in the most favorable environment. We would like it to be Armenia”. Hayk says that the current conditions for the robots is not favorable in Armenia based on several reasons such as the physical environment as the streets are not convenient, it is not financially beneficial as the payments to the couriers in Armenia are not equivalent to the costs associated with the operation of the robots.
Specialized materials and high quality trainers: on the program implemented in ASUE Change Lab
Hayk Kosyan is satisfied with the acceleration program carried out at ASUE: “The training was rather interesting, as we received high quality materials, for example, on finance, marketing, investment tools that we thoroughly studied. Trainers were also proficient and we networked with new acquaintances. I am satisfied with my participation, it was effective, as I acquired new skills and contacts. I wish success to Change Lab.