iHub Robotics — India's homegrown humanoid robots for service and industry
iHub Robotics is a Kochi, Kerala-based deep-tech startup building semi-humanoid service robots and industrial humanoid platforms entirely in India — from chassis and embedded systems to the AI models that drive them. With Tara Gen-1 (service) and the Daksha industrial series, iHub is positioning itself as India's leading humanoid company amid the current general-purpose humanoid robotics and AI boom that also includes Figure AI, Tesla Optimus, Unitree, and Apptronik.
- 2022Founded
- Kochi, KeralaHeadquarters
- Tara Gen-1Flagship (2024)
- ~$520K pre-seedFunding raised
- IndiaCountry
- PrivateStatus
About iHub Robotics
I Hub Research and Robotics Pvt. Ltd. — trading as iHub Robotics — was formally incorporated in March 2022 in Ernakulam, Kochi, by three friends who met studying mechatronics engineering in Coimbatore: Athil Krishna (Founder & CEO), Akhil K Haridasan (Co-Founder & COO), and Sarath S (Co-Founder & CTO). The trio began researching humanoid platforms as early as 2018 and submitted defence-robot proposals to the Government of India in 2019, receiving responses from both the Border Security Force and the Prime Minister's Office in 2020 — engagements interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic before a prototype demonstration could be delivered.
The team regrouped and formally launched iHub — short for Innovation Hub for Robotics — in 2022. What began as an ed-tech platform teaching AI and robotics quickly pivoted into full-stack humanoid development. In 2023 the company deployed its first service robots across schools and hospitals in India. In 2024 it launched Tara Gen-1, a semi-humanoid service robot pitched as India's most advanced platform of its class, and began exporting units to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, including a project for Sharjah Police and engagements with the UAE government.
In January 2025, iHub Robotics became the first Indian company selected for NVIDIA's Humanoid Robotics Program, a milestone that raised its profile internationally. In March 2025 the startup closed a pre-seed round of approximately ₹4.3 crore (about $520,000) from US-based angel investors — earmarked for building what the company describes as India's largest humanoid manufacturing facility at its Kalamassery, Kochi campus. That facility now anchors the company's roughly 24,000 sq ft production and training corridor, where robots learn tasks by repetition. iHub has also signed MoUs with EY Global and SAP Germany, and in 2025 announced a strategic collaboration with Infosys combining SAP Joule AI agents with the Daksha industrial humanoid platform.
The team has grown to roughly 100+ people across engineering, embedded systems, AI, and operations. iHub now operates from a headquarters in Kerala with regional offices in Dubai, Riyadh, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and expansion into the United States began in 2026 with the company's first US product shipment. Its direct peers in the current humanoid robotics and general-purpose robot AI boom include Figure AI, Unitree, Apptronik, Fourier Intelligence, and Agility Robotics — all chasing the same thesis that combining humanoid hardware with a general-purpose AI foundation model is the next major computing platform.
Product lineup: Tara service humanoids, Daksha industrial humanoids, and Viveka AI
iHub Robotics organizes its portfolio around three families: the customer-facing Tara service humanoid series, the Daksha industrial humanoid series, and the Viveka Vision-Language-Action model that acts as the shared intelligence layer across every robot. A separate RhinoGuardian line covers defense and security, and the company has publicly outlined a longer-term push into space robotics.
Tara Gen-1 (2024) — the semi-humanoid service flagship
Tara Gen-1 is iHub's flagship semi-humanoid service robot. Launched in 2024, it supports contextual conversation in 100+ languages, recognizes faces and gestures, and navigates large indoor environments — up to roughly 400,000 sq ft — autonomously using Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM). The platform ships in three application-tuned variants: Tara Greet for hospitality and front-desk automation, Tara Learn as an AI teaching assistant for education, and Tara Care for healthcare and hospital use. Approximately 35 Tara units have been deployed across three countries, with entry-level configurations reported to start near $10,000.
Daksha series (2025) — industrial humanoid platforms
The Daksha family is iHub's industrial humanoid line, positioned for manufacturing, warehousing, logistics, and heavy-duty assembly. The full-size Daksha can handle payloads of up to 25 kg and operate at working heights of 8–10 feet. The series has expanded to include Daksha Nano (compact), Daksha Mini (mobile), Daksha Max (mobile platform), and Daksha Titan (full-body), with the Daksha Gen-2 platform announced in late 2025.
Octa Bot, RhinoGuardian, and Viveka
Octa Bot is a newer multi-purpose service robot; the RhinoGuardian line — including the Rudera K9 quadruped — is an autonomous ground platform for surveillance, perimeter security, and tactical operations. Across every iHub robot, Viveka — the company's in-house Vision-Language-Action (VLA) model — serves as the "DecisionCore" that connects what the machine sees, the language it understands, and the actions it can carry out.
| Model | Year | Height | Weight | Payload | Battery / Runtime | Actuators | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tara Gen-1 | 2024 | Semi-humanoid (mobile base) | Not disclosed | Service-class | Not disclosed | Electric BLDC + wheeled base | 100+ languages; SLAM navigation; ~35 units deployed |
| Daksha (full-size) | 2025 | Full-body humanoid | Not disclosed | Up to 25 kg | Not disclosed | Electric BLDC | Reach 8–10 ft; heavy-duty industrial tasks |
| Daksha Nano / Mini / Max / Titan | 2025 | Compact → full-body | Not disclosed | Varies by SKU | Not disclosed | Electric BLDC | Portfolio spans compact to full-body form factors |
| Octa Bot | 2025 | Multi-purpose service robot | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Electric BLDC | Multi-purpose service platform |
| RhinoGuardian / Rudera K9 | 2025 | Quadruped / UGV | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Electric BLDC quadruped | Defence & security; surveillance and tactical ops |
Technology stack
iHub Robotics builds its full stack in-house — chassis fabrication, embedded systems, actuator drive electronics, model fine-tuning, and industrial design all live under one roof at its Kalamassery, Kochi facility. The company frames this vertical integration as its central strategic bet: that owning both the hardware and the foundation model is what makes an Indian-built humanoid competitive with imported platforms.
Perception
iHub robots combine a multi-camera vision system with SLAM-based mapping for autonomous indoor navigation across large environments, and face- and gesture-recognition for human-facing interaction. On the service side, Tara adds multilingual speech recognition supporting more than 100 languages. On the industrial side, Daksha is designed for contact-rich tasks — inserting parts, gripping objects, and reacting to unexpected contact on a factory floor.
Viveka VLA model
Viveka is iHub's in-house generalist Vision-Language-Action (VLA) model, described by the company as the "DecisionCore" powering every robot. Viveka maps camera input and natural-language instructions to actuator commands, and — per the company — learns and improves over time. iHub was the first Indian company selected for NVIDIA's Humanoid Robotics Program in January 2025, which supports its VLA training and inference pipeline on NVIDIA compute.
Actuators, power, and compute
iHub uses electric brushless DC (BLDC) actuators across its humanoid and semi-humanoid platforms — no hydraulics — mated to onboard batteries and GPU-class compute for real-time VLA inference. The Daksha industrial platform is engineered to handle 25 kg payloads and work at 8–10 ft reach, which requires high-torque servo modules and robust power delivery on every joint.
Power management is a particularly demanding subsystem for both service and industrial humanoids of this class. Each joint's servo controller must deliver hundreds of watts of instantaneous torque without thermally throttling, which drives the use of high-efficiency wide-bandgap semiconductors (SiC and GaN) in the motor-driver stages and requires tightly matched precision MLCCs and precision resistors on every gate-drive and current-sense channel. The onboard battery packs integrate cell balancing, thermal management, and multi-stage protection ICs — a full battery-management IC subsystem whose reliability is often the practical ceiling on how long a humanoid platform can run between charges.
Applications and commercial deployments
iHub Robotics sells primarily to enterprises across service and industrial verticals, with a separate line aimed at defense and security. Its Tara platform is the most widely deployed product to date, with roughly 35 units in the field across three countries:
- Hospitality, healthcare, education, and banking (India, UAE, Saudi Arabia). Tara Gen-1 units — in Greet, Learn, and Care variants — are deployed across schools, hospitals, and customer-facing environments, with named international engagements including UAE government projects and Sharjah Police.
- Manufacturing and logistics (Daksha). The Daksha industrial humanoid is being positioned for assembly, quality inspection, material handling, and hazardous operations in factories and warehouses. iHub has announced a strategic collaboration with Infosys combining SAP Joule AI agents with the Daksha platform for autonomous industrial execution.
- Enterprise partnerships. iHub has signed MoUs with EY Global and SAP Germany covering physical-AI adoption and enterprise deployment.
- Defence and security (RhinoGuardian / Rudera K9). A separate autonomous ground-vehicle line targets surveillance, perimeter security, bomb disposal, and tactical operations in high-risk environments.
- United States expansion (2026). iHub began its first US product shipments in 2026 and operates a Bay Area regional office to support North American customers.
The robotics supply chain — where Hybrid Electronics fits in
A modern humanoid robot is one of the most component-dense products ever built. A single iHub-class platform depends on thousands of individual electronic components: precision BLDC motor drivers, high-torque servo modules, IMUs and 6-DoF force-torque sensors, LiDAR and time-of-flight modules, GPU compute boards, battery-management ICs, wide-bandgap SiC/GaN power semiconductors, high-speed board-to-board connectors, precision resistors, and thousands of MLCC capacitors distributed across every power and signal rail.
Building that kind of hardware puts enormous pressure on the electronic-components supply chain. Prototype pilots and low-volume production runs frequently hit allocation, EOL notices, and long lead times on the exact parts they need, and R&D and field-service teams routinely have to support older platforms that use semiconductors no longer in mainstream distribution. During the current humanoid robotics and general-purpose robot AI boom, this pressure is amplified: dozens of well-funded teams are chasing the same short list of high-torque BLDC drivers, precision IMUs, GPU compute modules, and automotive-grade power semiconductors, and franchise stock on many key parts is now measured in months of lead time rather than weeks.
Hybrid Electronics has been sourcing electronic components for industrial and embedded systems since 1995. For robotics teams — humanoid, mobile, industrial, and research — we specialize in finding the parts you need when mainstream distribution can't:
Obsolete and end-of-life parts
Legacy semiconductors, sensors, connectors, and passives that are no longer in mainstream distribution — the parts that keep older platforms running during transitions to newer hardware, and the long-tail items that block a BOM from closing.
Allocated and hard-to-find active parts
High-torque BLDC motor drivers, IMUs and MEMS sensors, SiC/GaN power devices, GPU compute modules, precision resistors, and MLCC capacitors caught in allocation or long-lead times. Send us a BOM or a shortage list — we'll confirm what we can source and at what lead time.
Frequently asked questions
Who founded iHub Robotics?
iHub Robotics was co-founded in 2022 in Kochi, Kerala, by Athil Krishna (Founder & CEO), Akhil K Haridasan (Co-Founder & COO), and Sarath S (Co-Founder & CTO). The three met while studying mechatronics engineering in Coimbatore and began researching humanoid robots in 2018 before formally incorporating the company as I Hub Research and Robotics Pvt. Ltd. in March 2022.
What is Tara Gen-1?
Tara Gen-1 is iHub Robotics' flagship semi-humanoid service robot, launched in 2024. It supports interaction in 100+ languages, uses SLAM for autonomous indoor navigation across spaces up to 400,000 sq ft, and ships in three variants — Tara Greet (hospitality), Tara Learn (education), and Tara Care (healthcare).
Where are iHub Robotics robots deployed commercially?
Approximately 35 Tara Gen-1 units have been deployed across three countries — India, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia — with named engagements including UAE government projects and Sharjah Police. The company has signed MoUs with EY Global and SAP Germany, announced an Infosys collaboration around the Daksha industrial humanoid, and began US shipments in 2026.
How much has iHub Robotics raised?
iHub Robotics raised approximately ₹4.3 crore (about $520,000) in a pre-seed round from US-based angel investors, announced in March 2025. The capital is being used to expand its Kalamassery, Kochi manufacturing facility and accelerate humanoid R&D. In January 2025, iHub also became the first Indian company selected for NVIDIA's Humanoid Robotics Program.
Is Hybrid Electronics affiliated with iHub Robotics?
No. Hybrid Electronics is an independent electronic-components sourcing company. We are not a distributor, reseller, or partner of iHub Robotics. All trademarks are property of their respective owners. Hybrid supports robotics developers by sourcing obsolete, allocated, and hard-to-find semiconductors, sensors, connectors, and passives for R&D, prototype, and low-volume production builds.
Can Hybrid help with components for humanoid robotics builds?
Yes. We regularly support R&D and integrator teams with hard-to-find semiconductors, BLDC motor-driver ICs, IMUs and other MEMS sensors, connectors, SiC/GaN power devices, and precision passives for the industrial and embedded boards used in robotics platforms. Send us a BOM or a short list of shortages and we'll confirm availability and pricing.
Trademark and affiliation notice. iHub Robotics®, Tara Gen-1, Daksha, Viveka, Octa Bot, RhinoGuardian, and Rudera K9 are trademarks of I Hub Research and Robotics Pvt. Ltd. Hybrid Electronics is an independent electronic-components sourcing company and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or authorized by I Hub Research and Robotics Pvt. Ltd. All information on this page is compiled from public sources for educational and reference purposes.