KOTTAYAM: One who walks into the front office of the Elikulam grama panchayat in the district will be greeted by a warm 'namaskaram' from a smiling 'Elina' with folded hands.
For the first time in the state, a grama panchayat is using the service of a robot at its front office to welcome public, said S Shaji, former president and a member of the panchayat. Elina, the female robot, was developed by the project team of the electronics engineering department at Saintgits College of Engineering, Pathamuttom, in the district.
Shaji said that the idea of robot struck him during a visit to Makers Village in Kalamassery. "The robots we saw there gave us the idea of a front office robot. However, they were expensive, priced around Rs 18 lakh," he said.
Some natives of Elikulam, who work in the engineering college, came up to help the panchayat. The students developed the software while the structure of the robot was made using lesser expensive materials. "The final cost of the robot was around Rs 3.5 lakh," Shaji said.
Sandeep Lal, a member of the project team, said the robot identifies human beings through the movement of retina. Elina speaks Malayalam and there is a touch screen in front of Elina which will help the public to choose the service they want.
"Once they select the service, Elina will give them information regarding that and the counter from where they can get the service," he said. "People who approach the panchayat will be coming with various issues. So, a smiling robot welcoming them with folded hands will be a great relief," said Shaji.
The panchayat had conducted a competition for choosing a name for the robot wearing a Kerala sari. "We received hundreds of entries and the name suggested by around 70 people was Elina," he said.
Elina is on a trial run and there is scope for providing more services to the public through her in future, said Lal.
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