Sherpa Mini
Been a long hiatus on this blog and short business updates on LinkedIn seemed like a better channel for some time. We are back though. For those who follow us only here, a recap: we went commercial and closed first sale late last year. Deployed in a factory in Chennai in Jan 2020 where the Sherpa pulled nearly a ton of trolleys over a 400m round trip autonomously.
Our focus on making a vehicle capable of rugged conditions paid off quickly. The deployment environment was tough with poor lighting, no lane markers and very rough flooring. No typical industrial robotics kind of AGV would work in that place at all.
A robust inbound customer interest meant that we had several orders waiting to get finalized once the new financial year started in April. But then the pandemic happened. The pandemic will result in a positive push for automation in general and autonomy in particular, given the social distancing requirements and worker shortages. However, in the short term the economy has a huge demand shock that will slow everything. So, we did what every startup wants to do right now — align supply to where the demand is.
We had been working on a new model for our autonomous vehicle — the Sherpa Mini. The requirement for this version has been echoed by many prospects over the last 12 months — for small payloads, narrow aisle or to carry sensors (like a thermal camera, 360 Camera, Gas Sensor, RFID reader etc). We were focused though on first getting a model to production before making another one.
We started on this model just before the pandemic lockdown started. With the pandemic, we were able to see an immediate use case of this form factor in hospitals as a medicine/food mover or disinfectant. Or when integrated with a thermal camera, a COVID-19 screener in places like airports.
The idea is to make it versatile. The top plate will allow multiple attachments like trays or connecting a disinfectant or sensors. We have power and connectivity available for attachments (USB, RS485, 12v DC)
There are some clever ideas in this model:
- the 3D lidar placement in the center gives us a 360º view. The top plate is placed such that all beams escape. We now support reversing also!
- the rear single wheel is both drive and steering. Making it simpler and cost effective.
- battery swap to allow 24x7 use
- TeleOps over 4G (for remote support — this was essential since we want to avoid entering COVID wards). We already had OTA in the stack.
The autonomy stack is exactly the same as the larger vehicle. The team has done a great engineering job to fit the same electronics in this form factor and this was realized during the lockdown!
Ati has tied up with Wipro for a go-to-market in the healthcare space. The hospital version has telemedicine features, equipment to take vitals and space to carry food or medicine to patients. A trial has already started last week at a designated COVID-19 hospital in Bangalore.
Wish us luck!
