Robots turn teachers in Bengaluru school

Bengaluru: Disruptive technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are making their way into classrooms in the form of humanoid robots to teach students at a school in Bengaluru.

“Our robots impart lessons daily in five subjects to about 300 students in Classes 7-9 in four sections by turns. They also interact with them and respond to questions in the subjects,” said Vignesh Rao, Indus International School’s Chief Design Officer.

Though the 5 foot 7 inch robots, dressed in formal female attire, do not replace real teachers, they complement them in teaching lessons and reply to FAQs (frequently asked questions) from students.

“We have programmed the interactive robots to answer questions students frequently ask on the subjects and related to them. With AI in play, the robots are able to respond to questions and doubts of our wards after a lesson is taught,” said Rao.

The private international day and boarding school has 25 co-ed students in each of the four sections for Classes 7-9. It is affiliated to the Geneva-based International Baccalaureate (IB) Institute and follows its syllabus, which is recognised worldwide.

“The AI-enabled robots teach lessons in biology, chemistry, geography, history and physics to Classes 7-9. As per the Collaborative Learning Model [CLM], the man-machine team, comprising a teacher, students and the robot, collaborate in the classroom to deliver a lesson. The teacher collaborates with the robot and brings out the key concepts, relevance and application of the lesson being taught,” said Rao, who also heads the project.

Rao and his 17-member team have designed and built the three robots in-house from lightweight 3D-printed materials with imported smart servo motors. These robots emulate human-like gestures while delivering the lessons.

“It has taken our team nearly two years to design and develop these robots with software, hardware and AI to make them teaching assistants and allowing the human teacher to be more relevant in the classroom so that they can focus on the child and not the subject alone,” he added.

The team consists of teachers in the respective subjects, programmers, content developers, graphic designers and hardware engineers who built the mobile robots, weighing 45kg each.

Though the team did not rope in any manufacturer to make the robots, it sourced hardware and software components from the best players in the industry to assemble them in-house at a cost of Rs800,000 (Dh40,918) each.

“The response of students to a robot teaching them is positive and encouraging. They feel the collaboration between a human teacher and a robot enhances learning. It makes the human teacher focus on the child and personalise learning,” said Arjun Ray, Indus Trust Chief Executive Lt General (retd).

Touted as the first of its kind, the school plans to scale the pilot project to roll out more robots for other classes and more subjects in the future.

The school is also in the process of applying for an international patent to protect the intellectual property of its Eagle 2.0 version humanoid robot.

“The CLM purpose is to make human teachers more creative in the education sector. Robots will not replace their human counterparts but will work collaboratively with teachers as a tool or assistant to enhance the learning experience for the students in the classroom,” added Ray.

Anvi Kurade, a Class 8 student in the school, said it was fascinating to watch a robot taking classes and teaching lessons.