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Anshul Singhal’s life plan—like most Indian engineering students—was to go to America to complete his higher education.
Call it luck or fate – due to a degree of misplacement, this American interest was now out of the plans. A conversation with a neighbor brought him to Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS) in Dubai, and he flew to the Middle East instead.
For Anshul, this was one of the options. “I look back on coming to Dubai, and building a company here is the best thing I’ve ever done. Since coming here, I’ve done things that maybe I was a part of but I didn’t lead,” he recalls.
Studied BE in Mechanical Engineering. Anshul, who was curious about how to capture the next big opportunity, now wanted to understand the ecosystem.
Anshul has started till 2019. a research-backed multidisciplinary business-to-business (B2B) product development house.
The genesis of Sentient Labs
Building things from scratch came to him. He grew up in a family in a machine manufacturing business that based his career on building cars.
“I had an understanding of robotics… my management was building race cars and taking them to America for racing,” he recalls. Gulf Edition of your story.
It was at this point that Anshul thought of taking a second shot at reaching America. He started applying to PhD programs. With a strong network, he was now sure to hold the seat.
This is when things change along the way. He applied to the Dubai Future Accelerator competition where he and some of his classmates will build their first prototype under Sentient Labs. Anshul and his team got to work and within two weeks the product was ready.
“My classmates and I built the foundation for Sentient Labs, and after the product was approved… I signed a memorandum of understanding with Dubai Municipality,” says Anshul.
Dubai-based company Anshul is focusing on building a research and development innovation studio to combat what it calls data isolation.
“Many companies operate independently and information is private. But when it comes to solving a common problem, some things can be central,” says Anshul.
Building from the ground up
The startup has come a long way from the first prototype. Now, Grab Marine has built a modular robotic arm unmanned ship, or drone. This helps users to navigate busy and congested waterways effectively for marine operations.
It replaces the need to have people on board and can be controlled in different ways – radio, internet or autonomously.
The grab probe has a load capacity of 50kg, a travel speed of 2.5m/s, a reach of 2m and a total range of 300 degrees. It can help operators handle materials without changing equipment completely remotely and flexibly. The device can be mounted on anything from a robotic arm to a marine drone.
Grab a navy front sight
“To put it in perspective, the products are as big as cars and there are two types of models, not just one … there is a tight corner, one is open water … the idea is not to replace. The current fleet is 25 years old,” says Anshul.
Hold a detective, rear view
Grab Mariner has several advantages. It can complete complex marine tasks such as dredging, water quality monitoring, surveying and more. The effectiveness of this device has caught the eye of the customers, the launch of which is on board with some of the major oil and gas companies.
Channel partners are a key resource through which Sentient Labs provides services. In addition to energy companies, companies from other industries such as agriculture, textiles, construction, warehousing, healthcare, automotive and food processing have shown interest in the products.
“Furthermore, we will focus on manufacturing the product and developing the product solution by partnering with companies who are ready to take care of global distribution on board with us and become distribution channel partners and service partners,” explains Anshul.
The products are built to compliment the company’s performance. For example, Yaz—a modular arm developed by Sentient Labs—can handle materials remotely. Depending on its use, it can be modified to function as a container, container, collector, object or manipulator.
Being able to produce at scale was not easy. In the year In 2019, the company focused on several things, from budgeting to concept building. Just in the year As soon as they reached the production stage in 2020, the pandemic hit. Undeterred, they used their time off to focus on building the product.
Group of laboratories
Since its inception, the company has been in the forest. “That was the hardest part of the journey,” Anshul said. However, he sees his appearance. “Having a boot strap has made us very lean and our product is reflected in the price… giving us a competitive advantage,” he added. So far, the company consists of five members.
The scope of the robot market in the Middle East
The robotics market share in the Middle East is expected to grow at USD 385.74 million from 2020 to 2025. The overall growth rate will accelerate at 4.75% CAGR, according to Technavio.
A major factor driving the market share growth is the growing demand for robotic automation processes and technological innovation. Key consumer countries in the GCC region include Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar. In the emerging market, Sentient Labs competes with companies such as Reliable Robotics, Right Hand Robotics, Bright Machines, Gecko Robotics.
What’s next for Saint Labs?
Anshul says he doesn’t want Sentient Labs to limit itself to being a hardware company.
“We don’t understand water as much as we understand weather. So being able to access data points and help people understand water opens up opportunities for people that we never thought possible.”
Sentient Labs is looking to work with businesses involved in improving, maintaining and protecting coastal ecosystems.
In the work is the idea of creating a hardware ecosystem. “We don’t even mind making it open source,” concludes Anshul.
(This story has been updated to correct the spelling of the founder’s name.)