Jacky’s Business Solutions, a B2B technology Solutions Company has announced the launch of its “Robot as a Service” programme. It has introduced Temi V3 Robot for educational institutions across the UAE, and potentially the other GCC countries as well.
The initiative is part of a larger mission to transform the educational landscape with AI-powered teaching assistants and smart educational solutions.
Educational institutions can access the Temi Robot through multi-year contracts. The initiative focusses on coding skills and problem-solving abilities in students. The programme offers accessible monthly instalment options that are payable for up to three years.
The UAE AI and Digital Economy Strategies aim to consolidate the region’s ambition to become the first stop for innovation in the field of AI and robotics.
Manoj Ganapathy, Division Manager at Jacky’s Business Solutions, believes with the Temi v3 Robot, the team is bringing in a transformative AI-powered educational experience.
In a conversation with edge/, Ganapathy talks about what the robot, temi will do for educational institutions.
edge/: Tell us more about the robot and what can it do? Why build this robot for educational institutions?
Manoj Ganapathy: In the education sector, we do have two other robots that have been used for a while now, Pepper and Nao. However, we want to focus on adding temi to this line up. temi has been around for a few years and while it was not specifically designed for education, we have just launched the robot-as-a-service platform on the latest version that allows us to create applications on that catering to the needs of educational institutions.
This new service makes it easier for schools to deploy robotics and help their students without having to block a capital expense towards buying the robots.
edge/: Which educational institutions will the robot be available at?
Manoj Ganapathy: Primarily, we are looking at schools K12/ STEM learning and high schools. But it can be applicable and adapted to any educational institution that wants to explore and leverage the expansive use of AI and robotics in their institution. Our latest initiative is part of a broader mission to revolutionize the educational landscape through AI-powered teaching assistants and smart educational solutions.
edge/:Tell us about the workings of this robot, how was it built, the functioning, the technology behind it?
Manoj Ganapathy: temi is one of the most versatile robots you will find in the market. It can be adapted almost instantly whether at home for personal use or deployed in the office or for any vertical market applications. The main driver of this product is its rich and powerful features such as 5G, video calling, fully autonomous navigation, built in Alexa chatbot and an open platform for custom application development with endless possibilities in not only in English but also Arabic or other languages.
The latest temi version (V3) has a built-in Robots as a Service (RaaS), smart, innovative, subscription-based program that makes it easy to add powerful autonomous mobile robotics to any operations.
This new version is being developed by the parent company, Temi Robocore, who have been very innovative in creating new applications based on the core robot. As their local partner, we help with the customisation of the robots to suit the needs of the school and what applications they want to run, providing technical support and after service.
edge/:What were the kind of challenges you faced and how did you overcome them?
Manoj Ganapathy: Robotics in schools and educational institutions are still seen as a bit of a “nice to have” rather than a “should have”. With the increasing focus of AI capabilities for the future, there are more and more schools that would like to have access to these new technologies.
In the earlier version of temi (v2), we had limitations in hardware integration, older OS, connectivity, and obstacle avoidance. So with the new version, all the shortcomings from the older version is greatly improved with 5G connectivity, expansion ports for peripheral interface, additional sensors to detect obstacles and large 13.3”screen and android 11 operating system.
edge/: Tell us about the prototyping and how did that work?
Manoj Ganapathy: Robocore has tested temi in other markets outside the UAE already and, given our experience with Pepper and Nao, we are aware of the potential for these robots in schools.
We do not have a prototype specifically for this market, but we have the expertise to work with the right software partners to create the applications that each school needs. For STEM learning schools, we can also offer “Scratch kit” which helps the students to understand robot coding with simple drag and drop commands.
edge/: What are the future plans? Do you intend to build more robots?
Manoj Ganapathy: We are the local partners of temi Robocore and they have built a robot platform with all the capabilities of temi V3. The advantage with this product is it has a payload capacity of 60kgs. Student innovators and creators can explore the temi platform and build effective solutions to solve real life problems using this product. You can create a custom mascot representing your unique brand identity or build any applications based on the needs of the organisation using all the core features of temi.
edge/: What is the core trend you see with bringing robots into educational institutions?
Manoj Ganapathy: Our robots have been used as a step forward in making robotics an integral part of learning, ensuring that the future generations are equipped with essential technological skills, from creating the lessons to deploying them in classrooms in partnership with teachers and senior students.
With the temi V3 Robot, we’re not just introducing a tool, but a transformative AI-powered educational experience. As the robot literacy rate increases, it will help the young generation to be ready for new kind of job market which is going to emerge as a result of automation which is going to happen in few years.
