Kochi: A robot climbing a coconut tree and plucking the nuts one by one, just like a professional harvester, could no longer be a scene from a sci-fi comic. It’s already a reality, at least partially. Altersage Innovations, a startup based in Kerala’s Kochi, has developed a working prototype of the machine, and if things go as per the plans of the 23-year-old CEO Ashin P Krishna, the product will hit the market in a year.

The compact, lightweight, AI-trained robot named Coco-bot has already captured the attention of industry major Marico Ltd, which produces the popular Parachute brand coconut oil.

Ashin, who did his Mechanical Engineering from JDT Islam College, Kozhikode, has founded the startup out of his passion for innovation which dates back to his school days. Incubated at Kerala Startup Mission’s Maker Village in Kalamassery, Altersage has received grants from IIM Kozhikode, Kerala Agriculture University and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard).

A blurred futuristic visual
When Ashin was a Plus Two student he had developed an air-conditioner on his own. Not surprising because he had developed a projector when in class 9 and an electric bike in class 10. He was hopeful of attending the Indian Science Congress (ISC) with the AC he developed. However, his hopes were dashed as the theme of the prestigious event that year was innovation in agriculture.

This prompted Ashin to think about agritech and one day while taking bath a coconut tree outside struck his eyes. He imagined a robot climbing it and plucking coconuts. It was in 2020. “It was a blurred futuristic visual, and in the next 10 minutes, I confirmed that it is going to be my next project,” Ashin told Onmanorama. The dream stayed with him even as he completed his higher studies and wanted to launch his startup right out of his college. He even opted out of the placement he received from a campus selection. However, he had to wait for a while before taking the entrepreneurial plunge, and he worked as a floor manager in a showroom for a few months.

Once ready to launch his startup journey, Ashin got together a team with his friends and spent a year on research and development. In 2023, the team presented its idea to the Kerala Startup Mission and received funds. The same year, the team got the opportunity to develop the idea further at the 36-hour Hackathon Vaiga organised by the state government. The project won the first prize.

The hackathon win helped the youth gain the attention of Nabard. Ashin says he is grateful to Riyas Muhammad and Rakesh V, district development managers of NABARD, and Prof E Sasindran and K Sadanathan of Vadakara Coconut Farmers Producer Company for extending support to develop his product

Ashin said the final version of Coco-bot will be fully automated and the AI-enabled machine will be able to identify mature nuts and harvest them. The robot weighing 10 kg can be handled easily by a person and it can adapt to the various size and shape of the tree trunk, he said.

Ashin is joined by Gokul Krishnan as CTO and Alosh Denny as AI head. The company is actively looking to raise funds for product development and necessary expansion.

Startup Saturday Season 2 is Onmanorama’s exclusive bi-weekly series featuring informative and inspiring stories from Kerala’s thriving startup ecosystem. The season 1 of the series featured stirring stories of 40 startups which showcased the diversity of the Kerala startup ecosystem.

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