Humanoid robot Eagle 2.0 conducts a class at Indus International School

BENGALURU: A thermal physics class is in progress at Grade 8B of Indus International School , Bengaluru. The physics teacher, Murali Subramanian, is hovering over the children but conducting lessons at the centre of the classroom is Eagle 2.0, a humanoid robot , which could perhaps be the first in the country to be a teacher assistant.

“Hello everyone. We will focus on thermal physics today!” says Eagle 2.0, moving its head and body robotically. Clad in a white top, black skirt and a scarf around her neck, she is capable of two-way interaction: She takes queries from students and asks the class questions, and reacts to the answers she receives.

On a screen, a PowerPoint presentation is in sync with her class. “It’s a good attempt. But, a better answer can be...,” she tells a student who answers her question. Murali, meanwhile, assists each child individually at his/her desk.

Revolutionising its classroom space in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) world, Indus International School has introduced humanoid robots as teacher assistants for classes 7, 8 and 9 for physics, chemistry, biology, geography and history. They work along with teachers in delivering lessons.

“It’s a collaborative learning model that we have in place. In today’s classroom, a teacher spends 90% of the time in preparing and delivering the content that a search engine like Google can provide. She has no time for the child, who is just considered an empty vessel that can be filled with any content. With the humanoid robot taking over the role of delivering content, the teacher can teach what Google can’t. She mentors kids, teaches them how to learn, provides emotional support and ignites an entrepreneurial mindset. The robot can provide what Google does, along with formative and summative assessments. Meanwhile, students can aim at self-directed learning and design thinking. The teacher orchestrates the whole classroom,” said Lt Gen Arjun Ray, CEO of Indus Trust.

Eagle 2.0 was completely built in house by a team of 17 members comprising content developers, who are experienced teachers, graphic designers with a background of animation and gaming, programmers who are IIT alumni and engineers who were trained in robot development in China for two months. The team worked for two years to develop the humanoid robot from scratch, including 3-D printing and assembling. The motor has been imported from the US, and is the same as the one humanoid Sophia uses. So far, three humanoid robots have been built at a cost of Rs eight lakh each.

The school is conducting a pilot project on standalone teaching humanoids that can work alone in a classroom in the absence of teachers. It also plans to introduce more child-friendly and interactive robots in its pre-primary and primary classes and personal humanoid tutors for students. The existing humanoids are also being improved with more sensors and interactive capability.

