TARA GEN1

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TARA GEN1 (sometimes written as Tara Gen-1) is a semi-humanoid robot developed by iHub Robotics, a deep tech startup based in Kochi, Kerala, India. Described as India's most advanced semi-humanoid service robot, TARA GEN1 combines artificial intelligence, emotion recognition, multi-language natural language processing, and autonomous navigation to serve industries including hospitality, healthcare, education, and transportation. The robot has been exported to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, and iHub Robotics became the first Indian startup officially recognized by NVIDIA for humanoid robotics innovation in January 2025.

Background

iHub Robotics

iHub Robotics (legally registered as I Hub Research and Robotics Private Limited) was incorporated on March 3, 2022, in Ernakulam, Kerala. The company was co-founded by Athil Krishna (CEO), Sarath Sasikumar (CTO), and Akhil K Haridasan (COO). Headquartered at Fortum Spaces in Edappally, Kochi, the startup focuses on developing AI-powered humanoid and autonomous robots for commercial and industrial applications.^[1][2]

The company operates across multiple business models, including business-to-consumer (B2C), business-to-business (B2B), business-to-government (B2G), and direct-to-consumer (D2C). Its core technology areas span machine learning, manufacturing robotics, and 3D printing. Beyond the TARA platform, iHub Robotics has developed a broader product portfolio that includes the RHiNO unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) for defense applications and the Scout robot for extreme environments.^[3]

iHub Robotics is certified as a startup under the Kerala Startup Mission and has positioned itself as a key player in India's emerging deep-tech and robotics ecosystem.

Development history

The TARA GEN1 was developed as iHub Robotics' flagship commercial product, designed to address growing demand for AI-powered service robots in customer-facing environments. The robot was unveiled in the presence of Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India's former Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology.^[3]

In March 2025, iHub Robotics secured Rs 4.3 crore (approximately $520,000 USD) in pre-seed funding from U.S.-based investors. The capital was earmarked for establishing what the company described as India's largest humanoid robotics manufacturing facility in Kerala. The company projected this expansion would create over 150 jobs within two years.^[1][4][5]

CEO Athil Krishna stated at the time of the funding announcement: "This funding is a significant step toward realising our dream of Physical AI, where intelligent robots seamlessly integrate into industries to enhance human capabilities."^[5]

Design and specifications

Physical design

TARA GEN1 stands 163 cm tall and weighs 75 kg. It follows a semi-humanoid form factor, meaning it has a human-like upper body (head, torso, and arms) mounted on a wheeled mobility base rather than bipedal legs. This design choice prioritizes stable indoor navigation and practical deployment over the complexity and energy costs associated with bipedal locomotion.

The robot's head features 2 degrees of freedom (DOF) for naturalistic head movement, including face-tracking capability that allows the head to follow and maintain eye contact with individuals during interaction. Each hand has 3 degrees of freedom, enabling basic gestures and object manipulation.

A prominent 11-inch high-resolution touchscreen is integrated into the robot's torso area, serving as the primary visual interface for displaying information, menus, ticketing details, and promotional content.^[6]

Hardware specifications

The following table summarizes the known technical specifications of TARA GEN1:

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AI and software systems

TARA GEN1 integrates several AI subsystems that collectively enable its interactive capabilities:

Large language model integration: The robot incorporates Meta's Llama 3 large language model to power its conversational abilities. This enables the robot to engage in natural, context-aware dialogue with humans across a range of topics and service scenarios.^[6]

Emotion recognition: TARA GEN1 uses what iHub Robotics describes as "advanced human behavior intelligence" to detect and respond to human emotions. The system combines visual cues (facial expressions, body language) captured through the RGB camera with vocal tone analysis from the microphone array to assess a user's emotional state and adjust its responses accordingly.^[5][6]

Multi-language speech recognition: The robot supports AI-powered speech recognition across multiple languages, enabling deployment in linguistically diverse environments. This capability is particularly relevant for its target markets in the Middle East and India, where multilingual customer interactions are common.^[5]

Face and gesture recognition: The vision system detects and tracks human faces, responds to hand gestures, and maintains eye contact. These features contribute to a more lifelike and engaging interaction experience.^[6]

Real-time environmental adaptation: The AI system enables the robot to adapt its behavior based on real-time environmental conditions and contextual cues, allowing it to make autonomous decisions about navigation, interaction style, and task prioritization.^[5]

Navigation system

TARA GEN1's mobility base uses LiDAR-based navigation for autonomous indoor movement. The system creates and updates spatial maps of its environment, enabling it to navigate autonomously while avoiding obstacles. The navigation stack supports precise indoor positioning, allowing the robot to move reliably between predefined waypoints in complex indoor layouts such as hotel lobbies, hospital corridors, and airport terminals.

The robot also supports a manual remote control mode for situations where an operator needs to guide the robot directly.^[6]

Configurations

TARA GEN1 is available in three specialized configurations, each tailored to a specific industry vertical:

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Tara Greet

The Tara Greet configuration is optimized for reception and hospitality environments. It is designed to greet customers, handle check-in processes, provide information about facilities and services, and automate repetitive front-desk tasks. In hotel and airport settings, the robot can assist visitors with directions, answer frequently asked questions, and deliver personalized service recommendations.^[7]

Tara Care

The Tara Care configuration targets healthcare environments. It is designed to assist with patient support, provide health-related information, help with appointment scheduling, and serve as a mobile information kiosk in hospitals and clinics. The robot's emotion recognition capabilities are particularly relevant in healthcare settings, where detecting patient distress or confusion can improve the quality of service.^[8]

Tara Learn

The Tara Learn configuration is designed for educational institutions. It supports interactive teaching assistance and student engagement through conversational AI and its touchscreen display, making it suitable for classroom demonstrations, campus information delivery, and technology education programs.

Applications and deployments

Target industries

TARA GEN1 is designed for deployment across several customer-facing sectors:

• Hospitality: Hotels, resorts, and event venues where the robot serves as a receptionist, concierge, or guest services assistant.
• Healthcare: Hospitals and clinics where the robot provides patient support, wayfinding, and health information.
• Transportation: Airports and railway stations where the robot assists travelers with navigation, inquiries, and ticketing.
• Retail: Shopping centers and stores where the robot engages customers, provides product information, and enhances the shopping experience.
• Education: Schools, universities, and training centers where the robot supports interactive learning.

International deployments

As of 2025, iHub Robotics has exported TARA GEN1 units to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. These deployments represent the robot's first international market presence and demonstrate its commercial viability in service roles such as reception, patient support, and airport assistance. The Middle East market has been particularly receptive to service robotics, driven by the region's investments in smart city infrastructure and hospitality innovation.^[1][5]

Public demonstrations

TARA GEN1 has been showcased at various robotics and technology events in India. In August 2024, the robot was featured at a Robotics Expo, where it was presented as iHub Robotics' advanced semi-humanoid platform.^[9] The company has also hosted live demonstration sessions and offers bookable demos for prospective enterprise clients.

NVIDIA recognition

In January 2025, iHub Robotics became the first Indian startup to receive official recognition from NVIDIA for its innovation in humanoid robotics. As part of this recognition, iHub Robotics was selected for the NVIDIA Humanoid Robotics Program, which provides participating companies with access to state-of-the-art AI technologies, cutting-edge research collaborations, and a global networking platform.^[1][5]

NVIDIA's broader humanoid robotics initiative supports companies developing physical AI systems through platforms such as NVIDIA Isaac for robot simulation, Jetson for edge AI computing, and the GR00T foundation model for humanoid robots. While the specific NVIDIA technologies integrated into TARA GEN1 have not been publicly detailed, the partnership signals potential access to NVIDIA's simulation, training, and deployment tools for future iterations of the TARA platform.^[10]

Comparison with other iHub Robotics products

iHub Robotics has developed multiple robot platforms beyond TARA GEN1. The following table compares the company's key products:

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Daksha Gen 2 (also known as Daksha Gen-2 Pro) was unveiled on February 17, 2026, at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi's Bharat Mandapam. Unlike TARA GEN1's service-oriented focus, Daksha Gen 2 is designed for rugged industrial environments and features Vision-Language-Action (VLA) AI models for end-to-end autonomous task execution in factories, mines, oil fields, and disaster zones.^[3]

Competitive landscape

TARA GEN1 operates in the growing global market for service robots. As a semi-humanoid platform, it competes primarily with other customer-facing service robots rather than full-scale bipedal humanoids.

Indian market

Within India, iHub Robotics is part of an emerging wave of robotics startups. Genrobotics, also based in Kerala, has focused on robots for sanitation and sewer cleaning (particularly the Bandicoot robot) and raised $20 million from investors including Bharat Forge. Miko, a Mumbai-based startup, produces companion robots for children focused on education. However, iHub Robotics positions itself as the leading Indian company focused specifically on semi-humanoid robots for enterprise service applications.^[11]

Global context

Internationally, TARA GEN1 competes in a market that includes service robots from companies like SoftBank Robotics (with the Pepper and NAO platforms), UBTECH Robotics, and various Chinese service robot manufacturers. The global service robotics market has expanded rapidly, driven by demand in hospitality, healthcare, and retail. TARA GEN1's combination of emotion recognition, multilingual capability, and competitive pricing for emerging markets positions it as an alternative to established international platforms, particularly for deployments in India and the Middle East.

iHub School of Learning

Alongside its robotics development, iHub Robotics operates the iHub School of Learning, an educational platform dedicated to training students in AI and robotics. The initiative aims to equip 100,000 students with skills in deep tech, including artificial intelligence, robotics, drone technology, 3D printing, and virtual reality. The school is based in Kochi, Kerala, and represents the company's commitment to building a talent pipeline for India's robotics industry.^[1]

Future development

With the establishment of its Kerala manufacturing facility funded by the 2025 pre-seed round, iHub Robotics aims to scale production of the TARA platform and expand into new markets. The company's selection for the NVIDIA Humanoid Robotics Program suggests potential integration of more advanced AI capabilities in future iterations, including possible use of NVIDIA's Isaac simulation platform for training and the Jetson computing platform for on-device AI processing.

The launch of Daksha Gen 2 in February 2026 demonstrated iHub Robotics' ambition to expand beyond service robotics into industrial and defense applications, positioning the company as a full-spectrum robotics developer capable of addressing multiple market segments from a single technology base.

See also

• Humanoid robot
• Humanoid robots
• iHub Robotics
• Service robot
• NVIDIA Humanoid Robotics Program
• Pepper (robot)
• Llama 3

References

1. "Humanoid robotics startup iHub Robotics raises Rs 4.3 crore in a pre-Seed round." Indian Startup News, March 2025. ↩
2. "I Hub Research and Robotics Private Limited." Kerala Startup Mission, Kernel Platform. ↩
3. "Kerala-Based iHUB Robotics Launches Humanoid Daksha Gen 2 at AI Summit." The Robotics India, February 2026. ↩
4. "iHub Robotics and Your-Space Secure Fresh Funding to Drive Growth." Entrepreneur India, March 2025. ↩
5. "iHub Robotics Secures Rs 4.3 Crore to Build India's Largest Humanoid Robotics Facility." TICE News, March 2025. ↩
6. "TARA GEN1." Humanoid.guide. ↩
7. "Tara Greet." iHub Robotics official website. ↩
8. "Tara Care." iHub Robotics official website. ↩
9. "Thrilled to have Tara, our advanced semi-humanoid robot, showcased at the Robotics Expo." iHub Robotics, Facebook, August 2024. ↩
10. "NVIDIA Powers Humanoid Robot Industry With Cloud-to-Robot Computing Platforms for Physical AI." NVIDIA Newsroom. ↩
11. "India's Humanoid Robots: From Scrap to Space." Mike Kalil, 2025. ↩
12. "iHub Robotics raises $520K to expand manufacturing." Evertiq, March 2025.
13. "Tara Gen 1: India's Most Advanced Humanoid Robot." iHub Robotics Blog.
14. "The Future of Humanoid Robotics with Tara Gen 1." iHub Robotics Blog.