Robot Shalu with her creator Dinesh Kunwar PatelRobot Shalu's welcome speech at the International Automation Expo 2022 in front of 15 countries
Shalu’s creator, Dinesh Patel, has cited the 2010 film Enthiran[9] and Hanson Robotics’ humanoid robot, Sophia, as his main inspirations for developing the robot. He worked on the project for three years[10][11] , and the first version was unveiled to the public on 23 November 2020 in a telecast on DD News.[12]
Shalu's classroom teaching inspection by Principal
The robot was made at home using waste materials,[13] as well as aluminum, plastic, cardboard, wood, newspapers, and other items readily available in the local market.[14] No 3D-printed components were used, keeping the cost relatively low at about ₹50,000 (approximately $675 or €572).[15] Shalu’s software was designed and developed by Patel using open-source libraries such as TensorFlow and NLTK.[12] Work on the next version of Robot Shalu is currently underway.[16][17]
The name Shalu is an acronym: ‘S’ for Scientifically and Technically, ‘H’ for Highly Reciprocal, ‘A’ for Advanced Humanoid, ‘L’ for Language Communicator, and ‘U’ for Uniquely Designed.[16] Together, the letters form the phrase: Scientifically Designed, Uniquely and Highly Advanced Language Communicator Humanoid.[1]
Shalu can recognize and remember people, as well as identify many common objects.[4] She can understand human emotions such as anger, happiness, laughter, and jealousy, and respond accordingly.[19] Shalu can greet people, shake hands, and recite poems.[20] She can answer factual questions and engage in casual conversations based on a script, using artificial intelligence to understand the meaning of the conversation.[18] She can also solve simple math[21] problems.[18][22] Additionally, Shalu can conduct verbal quizzes and interviews,[17] forecast the weather for the current and next 10 days for any location, read out horoscopes based on the date of birth,[18] and provide current news, recipes,[23]book reviews, movies reviews and product descriptions.[18][22]
Shalu can be used as a robot teacher in schools to give lectures in the classroom based on an uploaded PowerPoint presentation developed by a human teacher.[24] She can answer students' queries, ask them questions, and assess the correctness of their answers.[25][26] She can also work as a receptionist, responding to customer queries verbally, as well as via email and SMS.[24] Additionally, she can serve as a talking companion for senior citizens and a learning companion for young children.[12][27] This robot teacher can upload curriculum files and teach using projection tools like PowerPoint presentations.[28]
Shalu is the world's first robot teacher to teach more than 6 subjects in 47 different languages.[33][34] Currently, she is teaching classes 6 to 11 at a Kendriya Vidyalaya in Mumbai, India.[35][36] Robot Shalu's teaching in the classroom has been inspected by the school's principal, who expressed that the use of technology in education will enhance the Teaching-Learning Process (TLP) and lead to better learning outcomes.[36][37]
