Mr Amol Gulhane

Empowering Businesses with innovations

R O B O L A B : - “ A P E R F E C T P L AT F O R M T O E X P L O R E , L E A R N A N D B U I L D I D E A S ”

Robolab Technologies Pvt. Ltd is a venture by alumni of College of Engineering, Pune (COEP) and is being mentored and supported by BHAU Institute of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Leadership (BIEL).

Robolab is your very own, on campus, Centre of Excellence in Robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Rapid Prototyping (RP) and Industrial Automation, tailor-made for you. It is an advanced, state of the art platform to explore, learn and build robots and related technologies. We provide innovative and interactive training by experts consistent with the latest curricula and the industry requirements.

In a talk with MrAmol Gulhane, Director and CEO at Robolab Technologies, we discussed current industry scenario and how Robolab is transforming businesses.

What were the initial challenges you faced?

We faced following initial challenges in early days of Robolab

Finding Right Talent: Biggest asset for any organization is its human resource. Finding the right talent who can share the same passion and nurture them to prepare for future roles is also equally important for organizational success.

Support from Various Government Departments: The government is showing some positive inclination towards encouraging startups. A lot more can be done; but at the end of the day if an entrepreneur believes and conceives that he wants to succeed, whether the government is pro startups or not, he/she will succeed. Governments can help create ecosystems, entrepreneurs need to build their vision themselves.

Know how money flows: The core team of Robolab consists of mostly Engineers. So it took us some hard efforts and lessons to really understand how the money flows. Knowing the regular profit and loss statement of the business is not enough.

Perception about Robotics and Robotics Lab. Many a schools and colleges have purchased some toys and kits and have put them in the room which is opened only for visitors and guests and they call it their Robotics Lab. We want to change that perception and really show world class innovations conceived and developed by students fraternity.

Which was that point that triggered the growth of the company?

All India Council for Technical Education AICTE’s acceptance of latest technologies like robotics, Automation, Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence in the official syllabus for technical institutions across India. Also, The recently launched National Education Policy (NEP) has put a lot of importance on the Hands of Experience and the practicality of the latest technologies ably backed with the theory. Various initiatives by AICTE by other such organisations such as AICTE Idea Lab, MODROB Labs, Innovation Labs, Science and Technology Parks, Incubators have had helped Robolab grow its business.

How have the company graphs changed since the foundation? Can you share a few statistics?

With large number educational institutions coming into existence day by day, the quest for providing quality education to the students is

AMOL GULHANE, DIRECTOR AND CEO AT ROBOL AB TECHNOLOGIES

rampant. Our service provides this technical edge to these institutes. A long sighted institution will surely know and realize the value of such an investment and its advantages for the future batches.

India has nearly 4000 engineering colleges and out of them not even more than 40 i.e. 1% have well established robotics laboratories. There are nearly 2,00,000 Middle high school in India which are privately operated. Our Robolab model for school is economical and attractive as we provide curricular material with it. K12 schools with CBSE and ICSE pattern is our main focus in school robotics business as they are open & receptive to new and competitive technologies. The students are our main target market section. Through online teaching idea (app based) we will be reaching to all those students who don’t have access to Robolab.

We want to bring up the not so well established institutions to the technological equity with the well established ones. The students are like wet clay. We give them right shape and make future innovators with our service and guidance. Thus bringing about the overall development of the students, institutions and India itself.

In a short span of 7 years, Robolab has spread across 16 states, and is associated with more than 50 key institutes and have directly trained more than 12000

students across India ROBOLAB:- “A perfect platform to explore, learn and build ideas”

Product Features: • Advanced state of the art technical research facility within campus • Hands on practical experience along with required theory • Consolidation of concepts • Industry- institute Interaction

What is the reason behind your company’s long-standing success?

The most important part of the company are the customers and your team. Both work hand in hand. You must maintain a perfect balance between your customers as well as your team.

• Standard guidelines and essentials • Superior quality and Advanced robot study platforms • Training by Industry Experts • Affordable excellence with Quick Return on Investment

Main Products/Services

For Colleges and Research and Development Centers

Our rock solid team who is passionate and dedicated towards the cause to take technologies to masses is the core reason for our company achievements and success.

What are the products/services the company focuses on? How are your services different from those in the market?

ROBOLAB :- “A perfect platform to explore, learn and build ideas” Robolab is your very own, on campus, Centre of Excellence in Robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Rapid Prototyping (RP) and Industrial Automation, tailor-made for you. It is an advanced, state of the art platform to explore, learn and build robots and related technologies. We provide innovative and interactive training by experts consistent with the latest curricula and the industry requirements. • AICTE-IDEA (Idea Development, Evaluation & Application) Lab • Center Of Excellence in Robotics (COE-R) • Center Of Excellence in Internet of Things (COE-IoT) • Center Of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence (COE-AI) • Center Of Excellence in Mechatronics (COE-M) Center Of Excellence in Industry 4.0 (COE-I4.0) • Center Of Excellence in Rapid Prototyping and Scanning (COERPS) • Center Of Excellence in Pneumatics Technology (COE-PT) • Center Of Excellence in Vacuum Technology(COE-VT) • Center Of Excellence in Industrial Automation(COE-IA) • Faculty Development Programs (FDP) • Research and Development (R&D) • Consulting, Guidance, Mentorship For Schools • Atal Tinkering Lab • Do it yourself (DIY) Lab • Robotics Lab

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) Lab

• Research and Development Consulting

• Internet of Things (IoT) Lab

• Rapid Prototyping Lab

For Industries, Defense and Research Organizations

• Product Development

How do you decide to take the company a step further in terms of your products/services?

We are taking every initiative to make our products and services better. We walk that extra mile to make our customers completely satisfied with our products and services. We keep researching and inventing so that clients can get the best value for their money and a remarkable experience. This is the best thing that one can do to outpace their competitors.

Is there any new addition to the list of products/services? Anything exciting you would like to share?

AICTE-IDEA (Idea Development, Evaluation & Application) Lab: All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE ) has decided to establish AICTE-IDEA (Idea Development, Evaluation & Application) Lab in AICTE approved institutions, encouraging students for application of science, technologies, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fundamentals towards enhanced hands-on experience, learning by doing and product visualisation. Tinkering Lab: IoT in a Box: The IoT Learning

Box is the ideal solution for university students, providing stateof-the-art, hands-on incorporation of IoT technology in an educational setting. It supports a lot of features which enables researchers and students to explore different aspects and develop different applications in IoT field. The most popular protocols used for the realization of IoT are MQTT, COAP, and HTTP. Sensors used with IoT Learning Box are the building blocks of the system which can collect values of different parameters. On-Board Micro-Controller ESP32 transmits information to Thingsboard opensource IoT Platform. Thingsboard will make the values of collected parameters available over the internet so that they are globally accessible.

IoT Car: IoT Car is a product that allows users to learn, visualize and implement Internet of Things in fun and engaging manner. It is a physical product embedded with electronic and mechanical components such as microprocessor, sensors, actuators, touch panel, and network connectivity.

IoT Car uses experiential learning methodology. With the use of IoT Car, students are introduced to Internet of Things concepts and its practical applications using python programming. They also get hands on experience of Electronics, Mechanical and Embedded systems.

IoT Car is based on the Raspberry Pi platform. It is embedded with a variety of sensors like Humidity and Temperature sensor, Accelerometer sensor, GPS and GSM Sensor and Camera sensor. It is driven by a DC motor, and Servo motor based steering(Ackerman) mechanism. Specially designed graphical user interface(GUI) displays various sensors parameters and can also be used to operate the IoT Car. Iot Car is controlled and programmed using the inbuilt Touch Panel or the wirelessly connected Host Computer.

Miniature Industrial Production System (MIPS): Miniature Industrial Production System (MIPS) enables the trainees & trainers to acquire thorough knowledge in field of Robotics & Automation starting from basic theoretical concepts to advanced applications. A combination of all the technologies used in the lab, the MIPS is complete platform to learn about industrial automation. It includes a combination of various sensors, motors, pneumatic components, linear actuators, micro controllers & PLC etc. to build a miniature manufacturing unit that performs a specific task.

Online Course for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning : Fast track your career with our comprehensive Program in AI and Machine Learning. This AI and Machine learning certification program will prepare you for one of the world’s most exciting technology frontiers.

Robolab as an organisation acts as a perfect amalgamation for Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Internet of Things, Automation, and similar latest technologies in hardware and software. With the kind of talented workforce that we

How do you look after your employees? What makes your team unique?

are having, we can disrupt any industry we put our eyes on. The team offers a diverse experience and skillsets to tackle the challenges. The team is highly motivated and great at executing things at super-fast pace keeping an eye for the details.

Is there any special experience with your clients you would like to highlight?

Delhi Public School, Bokaro Steel City, Jharkhand.

The management was looking for a technology partner for establishing a robotics lab at their campus. They tried their contacts and got quotations from them. Many of the established companies in the domain had also submitted their proposals.

Just to have more options to choose from, they were digging data about companies who offers similar solutions. They got to know about us through a simple Google search. They contacted us the same day and arranged a meeting with the Director Hemlata S. Mohan Madam and management team.

And against all odds and big established firms, we got the order and successfully established the Robolab and delivered trainings at their campus. The Management as well as trainees were well satisfied and recommended us to their counterparts.

During the first meeting itself. They liked the customized part of the Robolab along with student centric approach of the training.

According to you, what are the basic factors that businesses in digital landscape should focus on

“ H A R D - W O R K B E A T S T A L E N T W H E N T A L E N T D O E S N ’ T W O R K H A R D . ”

to get better results?

Having laser sharp focus on the sector areas your company works in is of utmost importance.

You need to find patterns in the things that might seem random. And for that you will have to collect, analyse, relook at a vast amount of data.

One person who you admire the most?

Whose business story do you find the most inspiring?

Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Sir. He was truly a multifaceted person. The Teacher, The Poet, The Leader, The Philosopher, The Person, The Scientist, The People’s President and most importantly a kind and compassionate human being. We bow in respect to Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Sir.

Amitabh Bachchan Ji. AmitabhJi is a prime example of someone being pegged back repeatedly in life, personal and professional, and yet he fought back. He is a perfect role model for us all, not only to the ones who want to become movie stars, but also for the rest of us to extrapolate the learnings and wear the same attitude to fight adversities in our own lives.

Constant vigilance- a need or a strategy? Please share your views.

It’s a need of the hour. To secure your position in the market, you need to be on your toes and grab the different opportunities as they appear. The shelf of opportunities has shrunk a lot over the past few years. Also, you need to keep your updated with various issues, activities and work going on in different sectors as well.

Instead of the rat -race or competition with some organisation, we compete and outperform ourselves as the sportsperson do. We like to challenge ourselves and then break the barriers.

It’s a rat-race out there. How do you cope with that?

Mr. Amol Ashokrao Gulhane ( Director and Chief Executive Officer)

We have initiated a lot of different initiatives which were forward looking and futuristic. Eager to lead many more such initiatives for the betterment of larger good.

“Winners don’t do different things, they do things differently.”- Shiv Khera

“The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person who is doing it.”

CEO, A Roboticist Shaping the Best Robotics and Automation Company

Education Bachelor of Technology in Electronics and Telecommunication from Government College of Engineering Pune (COEP), Pune Executive Management Development Program from Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow (IIML)

Amol Gulhane is the Co-Founder and CEO of Robolab Technologies. He is a first generation entrepreneur and a Roboticist shaping the Best Robotics and Automation Company. Amol has completed his B.Tech in Electronics and Telecommunication from College of Engineering, Pune (COEP). A roboticist, Amol has deep experience of designing and manufacturing complex and task specific industrial robots. He has a profound knowledge of educational, and defense robots and is specialized in digital image processing, embedded programming, design analysis and optimization.

Widely respected for integrity, innovation and dynamism, Amol has successfully established and grown partnerships with customers, partners and industry bodies, setting benchmarks in governance, cooperation and co-innovation. With his entrepreneurial, management and technical skills and being an accomplished sportsperson, he implements his unique ways to motivate the entire team and get the best out of people.

He is the recipient of the National Entrepreneurship Award(GoI), Youth Inspirator Award(Sakaal) and 30 under 30 startup entrepreneurs (Hindustan Times).

He is an expert speaker on Robotics, Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence,Industry 4.0, Entrepreneurship and Leadership.