6 hours Ago By Vaitheeswaran B
DR RAVI KANT UPADHYAY | Co-founder - DR PRADEEPKUMAR SUNDARRAJ | Founder There is no immediate pathway from research to market. That can only be done through entrepreneurship,” says Dr Pradeepkumar Sundarraj , founder and chief executive of Kelvin6k . The name refers to the surface temperature of sun.
At the age of 10, he developed solar light for a science exhibition and pursued solar energy till PhD. Subsequently, he chose entrepreneurship to make a real-world impact. During his stint at the German aerospace centre, he met a team developing solar-based 3D printing, melting lunar regolith (sand) for extra-terrestrial habitats.
He thought similar methods could be used to make the construction industry more sustainable. But there were no takers in the market. He then decided to implement basic steps in sustainability by automating the sector.
He developed robotic arms and concrete 3D printers to make construction faster, cheaper and more sustainable than traditional methods. “We have a patent for the entire 3D printing machine, first in the country and one of the few in the world. We have developed everything from scratch in and around Chennai,” he says.
“When you consider hardware or robotics, I think Chennai is the best place because we already have industrial hubs such as Ambattur and Guindy where laser cutting, lathe work, milling, CNC machining are easily available to fabricate robotic parts,” he says. Sundarraj and his co-founder Dr Ravi Kant Upadhyay come with experience in mechanical engineering, 3D printing and material sciences. While much of the 3D printed construction happens at a lab and parts are assembled on site, the duo’s technology can print on site, making it even more cost-efficient.
The startup built a 3D printed building for Air Force station Tambaram. It also constructed a 3D printed building for a company without using any cement. The startup, incubated at Crescent innovation and incubation council (CIIC), has so far received 2 crore investment from I-Hub foundation for cobotics (IHFC) of IIT Delhi, CIIC and IVY League ventures and further soft commitment for 5 crore.
Kelvin6k plans to sell its printers and robotic systems to customers in the US, UAE and markets in Europe where labour cost and affordability is a major issue. Sundarraj says they have a good order book. In the Indian market, it plans to provide construction as a service using robotics for major construction players, which can improve speed.
“We are building robots that can build within a 2,400 sqft area without moving and robots could be stacked up to build up to six floors. A swarm of robots could be used to scale and complete bigger construction projects,” he says. For the service business, the company plans to increase fleet (which includes robotic systems and professionals) size to 20 by financial year 2026.
It is already getting interest from real-estate players and NGOs in India for commercial projects and building houses under PM Awas Yojna. Dr Sundarraj aspires to construct up to 2 lakh sqft a year in five years’ time..
