Meeting Anushka, a low-budget humanoid robot built with parts from a dump yard

When most science fiction enthusiasts think of humanoid robots, they often imagine something from an Isaac Asimov novel or a chillingly life-like creation like Dolores from the television series Westworld. With the emergence of generative AI as well as existing social robots like Sophia developed by Hanson Robotics, a future with fully-realised robots doesn’t seem distant. But the journey towards this reality can be equally thrilling.

That is why it was hard for me to turn down an opportunity to interact with a humanoid robot created in a modest lab on an engineering college campus tucked away in India’s heartland.