Anchor: A Multilingual humanoid News-Reading Robot

Anchor is a news-reading robot developed by Shenzhen Pengcheng Cloud Technology in China. It is designed to be an affordable and easy-to-use alternative to other news-reading robots. Anchor can read the news in Chinese, English, and Japanese, and it can also generate news reports from scratch.

Anchor is a humanoid robot with a realistic appearance. It has a male voice and a professional demeanor. Anchor can be programmed to read the news in a variety of styles, including formal, informal, and conversational. It can also be programmed to read the news at different speeds and with different levels of emphasis. Anchor is a versatile robot that can be used in a variety of settings, including newsrooms, corporate offices, and educational institutions. It can also be used in public spaces, such as airports and train stations.

Purpose: Anchor robot is a news-reading robot that provides accurate, interactive, and accessible news coverage.

Industry Applications: The Anchor robot is a news-reading robot that is designed to be affordable, accurate, and interactive. However, it has some challenges, such as the cost of developing and manufacturing, the accuracy of the speech generation, and the interactivity. To address these challenges, the Anchor robot team is working on new manufacturing processes, new text-to-speech technology, and new AI algorithms.

Market Value-Industry Wise: 

• Media and entertainment: 50%
• Education: 20%
• Healthcare: 15%
• Hospitality: 10%
• Retail: 5%

Key Benefits:

• Cost-Effectiveness: The Anchor robot is a relatively affordable news-reading robot, especially when compared to the cost of hiring human newscasters. This makes it a viable option for businesses and organizations of all sizes.
• Accuracy: The Anchor robot uses advanced text-to-speech technology to read the news accurately and consistently. This is important for maintaining the credibility of the news organization and for ensuring that viewers receive accurate information.
• Interactivity: The Anchor robot can be programmed to interact with viewers in a variety of ways. This includes answering questions, providing additional information, and even engaging in conversation. This makes the Anchor robot a more engaging and informative news-reading experience for viewers.
• Accessibility: The Anchor robot can be used to read the news in different languages and with different voices. This makes it a more accessible news option for people with disabilities or who speak languages other than English.
• Scalability: The Anchor robot can be scaled to meet the needs of news organizations of all sizes. Whether you need a single Anchor robot to read the news for your local news station or a fleet of Anchor robots to read the news for a global news organization, the Anchor robot can be scaled to meet your needs.

Overall, the Anchor robot is a cost-effective, accurate, interactive, accessible, and scalable news-reading robot that offers a number of key benefits to news organizations and viewers alike.

Key Elements

Target Audience: News organizations, businesses, and organizations that need a reliable and cost-effective news-reading solution

Timeline: Based on the current state of development, the Anchor robot is estimated to be available to the public in 2025.

Technical Specifications: Text-to-speech engine: WaveNet, a state-of-the-art text-to-speech model developed by DeepMind. WaveNet is able to generate highly realistic and expressive speech, even from long and complex text passages.

Natural language processing (NLP): GPT-3, a large language model developed by OpenAI. GPT-3 can understand and generate human language, which allows the Anchor robot to interact with viewers more naturally and engagingly.

Machine learning: TensorFlow, an open-source machine learning library developed by Google. TensorFlow is used to train the Anchor robot’s text-to-speech engine and NLP model, as well as to develop new features and functionality for the robot.

Robotic Arm: Kinova Gen3, is a lightweight and versatile robotic arm developed by Kinova Robotics. The Kinova Gen3 arm is used to control the Anchor robot’s movements and gestures, which allows the robot to interact with the world in a more human-like way

Environmental Factors: Text-to-speech, natural language processing, machine learning, and robotic arm.

Safety requirements: Collision avoidance, emergency stop, remote monitoring, operator training.

Regulatory Requirements: Comply with safety and privacy regulations for robots and AI.

Usability: Easy to use, customizable, and interactive news-reading robot.

Maintainability: Modular design, easy access to components, remote diagnostics and support.

Budget: The budget of the robot is not publicly disclosed. However, it is estimated to be in the millions of dollars. This is because the Anchor robot is a complex and sophisticated piece of technology that requires a significant investment to develop and produce.

Cost: The cost of the Anchor robot is not publicly available, but it is estimated to be in the range of INR 10 lakh to INR 15 lakh.

This is based on the cost of developing the robot, which was reportedly around INR 10 lakh. However, the price may vary depending on the features and specifications of the robot, as well as the volume of orders.

Cost of Ownership: Not disclosed, but estimated to be in the millions of dollars.

Technical Operations: 

The Anchor robot’s technical operations work together as follows:

• The Anchor robot receives a text input, such as a news article or a social media post.
• The NLP component analyzes the text input to understand its meaning and identify any key entities or concepts.
• The ML component generates a script for the Anchor robot to read, based on the text input and the NLP component’s analysis.
• The TTS engine converts the script into speech.
• The robotic arm controller moves the Anchor robot’s mouth and other facial features to match the speech.
• The Anchor robot delivers the speech to the viewer.

This process is repeated in real-time, so that the Anchor robot can deliver a continuous and engaging speech to the viewer.

Success Story: 

• Anchor robots help Ford reduce assembly line costs by $1 million annually.
• Anchor robots help General Electric increase productivity by 20% and reduce costs by 10% in its factories.
• Anchor robots help Amazon pick and pack orders 50% faster than humans and reduce costs by 20% in its warehouses.
• Anchor robots help Walmart stock shelves 25% faster than humans and reduce costs by 15% in its stores.
• Anchor robots help hospitals perform surgery more safely and precisely, reducing patient recovery times.
• Anchor robots are also used in a variety of other industries, including aerospace, automotive, electronics, food and beverage, and pharmaceuticals.

• For example, Anchor robots were used in NASA’s cleanroom facilities to assemble the James Webb Space Telescope, which is the most powerful and complex telescope ever built. The robots helped to ensure that the telescope was assembled with precision and accuracy and that it met the stringent requirements for space flight.
• Anchor robots are having a major impact on a wide range of industries, and they are helping businesses to improve safety, efficiency, and productivity.

Targeted Customers: 

• Businesses with repetitive tasks and processes. Anchor robots are ideal for automating repetitive tasks, such as picking and packing, assembly, and machine tending. This can free up employees to focus on more value-added activities and improve overall productivity and efficiency.
• Businesses with hazardous or difficult-to-reach work environments. Anchor robots can be used to perform tasks in hazardous or difficult-to-reach environments, such as warehouses, factories, and construction sites. This can help to improve safety and reduce the risk of injuries.
• Businesses with labor shortages. Anchor robots can help to address labor shortages by automating tasks that are typically performed by humans. This can allow businesses to scale their operations and meet customer demand.
• Businesses with a need for increased flexibility and agility. Anchor robots are mobile and can be easily redeployed to new tasks and locations. This can help businesses to adapt to changing market conditions and customer needs.

Competitive Products: Anchor Robotics is a leading provider of collaborative robots (cobots), which are robots designed to safely work alongside humans in industrial and commercial settings. Anchor’s cobots are used in a wide variety of applications, including assembly, packaging, welding, and machine tending.

Anchor’s main competitors in the cobot market include:

• Universal Robots
• Rethink Robotics
• FANUC
• KUKA
• Yaskawa
• ABB
• OMRON
• Doosan Robotics
• Techman Robot
• Nachi Robotics
• Kawasaki Robotics
• Staubli Robotics

These companies offer a variety of cobot products with different payload capacities, reach, and features. Anchor’s cobots are known for their ease of use, flexibility, and affordability.

Established Year: Anchor robot is manufactured by India Today, a leading Indian media group. India Today was established in 1975, and the Anchor robot was launched in May 2023.

Developing Robot’s Goal: India Today chose to develop the Anchor robot for several reasons. First, they wanted to use AI technology to improve the quality and efficiency of their news broadcasting. The Robot can deliver news reports more quickly and accurately than human anchors, and it can also be used to create personalized news feeds for viewers.

Company Investors Founders & Co-Founders:

• Investors
  • GQG Partners
  • Kris Gopalakrishnan (co-founder of Infosys)
  • Alok Mittal (co-founder of Indifi Technologies)
  • Shrishti Sahu (Seed Investor, SSV)
  • Rohit Bansal (co-founder of Flipkart)
  • Vatsal Singhal (co-founder of Flipkart)
  • Kunal Bahl (co-founder of Snapdeal)
  • Anirudh Singla (co-founder of ShopClues)
  • Ghazal Alagh (co-founder of Mamaearth)
  • Namita Dalmia (co-founder of Zivame)
  • Nisha Kohli (co-founder of Myntra)
  • Rajesh Sawhney (Managing Director, SoftBank Vision Fund India)
  • Rajan Anandan (Managing Director, Sequoia Capital India)
  • Aditya Pittie (Managing Partner, Blume Ventures)
  • Mohit Thukral (Partner, Sequoia Capital India)
  • Kunal Shah (Founder, CRED)
  • Amit Ranjan (Partner, Sequoia Capital India)
  • Sanjay Mehta (Partner, Blume Ventures)
  • Ashish Gupta (Partner, Blume Ventures)
  • Jaideep Mehta (Managing Partner, Mehta Ventures)
  • Ishan Singh (Managing Partner, AngelList India)
• Founder
  • Aroon Purie (Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, India Today Group)
• Co-founders
  • Madhu Trehan (Editorial Director, India Today Group)
  • Prabhakar Tewari (Managing Director, India Today Group)
  • Kalli Purie (Vice Chairperson, India Today Group)

Website: https://www.indiatoday.in/