Local company eyes "huge market" for robot assistants

Far from falling out of the pages of a science fiction novel, the very robots - 10 of them, in fact - are now being built by a Thai company called CT Asia Robotics, at a cost of Bt1 million each.

MK Restaurants plans to deploy the robots in a pilot project to deliver food to its customers. Managing director Rit Thirakomen says the Bt10-million cost aims to increase the satisfaction of MK Restaurants' customers at the same time as it encourages the local commercial development of robots.

CT Asia Robotics is a four-months-old company with a registered capital of Bt2 million. It is a subsidiary of the large local software firm, CT Asia.

The chief executive of both CT Asia and CT Asia Robotics, Chalermpon Punnotok, said the new company was a result of his participation in the first Innovative Business Plan Contest hosted by Chulalongkorn Business School and CT Asia.

"We got the team winners. They are intelligent, young, and have experience as the winners of the Thailand Rescue Robot Championship. We wanted to turn their development into a commercial venture, so we decided to set up a new company - CT Asia Robotics - to recruit them and give them 20 per cent ownership," Chalermpon said.

He said that MK Restaurants ordered the first lot of 10 robots even though they were still in prototype development. Nevertheless, the company expects to make delivery in the first quarter of next year.

"They will be human-friendly robots standing about 1.1-metres tall and weighing 60 kilograms. They will be able to walk to serve MK's dishes to assigned tables and will also be capable of receiving voice commands in Thai," Chalermpon said.

Development of the robots has required the use of many technologies, including infrared to control their ability to walk, lasers to detect objects and prevent the robots crashing, voice recognition to receive commands, and electronic, mechanical and software architecture.

The company is also developing a second-generation robot for edutainment purposes. It is expected to be shown off at the Science Museum and TK Park as well as visiting schools.

CT Asia Robotics is planning an official launch of its business late in October. It is expected that Science Minister Kalaya Sophonpanich will officiate.

Then, with the know-how gathered from developing two generations of its robots, it plans to develop a third generation robot as an assistant for old people. The third-generation robot is expected to be a major source of revenue. 

Chalermpon said the goal of CT Asia Robotics was to begin exporting Thai-made robots, as assistants for the elderly, around the world within four years. The first target market is Japan.

"A robot to assist elderly people will have a very huge market, as most countries are moving towards an ageing society," Chalermpon said.