Strider Robotics, based in Bangalore, has advanced its autonomous quadruped UGV into live industrial pilots, marking a significant leap in India’s indigenous robotics sector.

The platform, capable of carrying a 40 kg payload across hazardous terrain, is now being tested in oil, gas, and automotive facilities, positioning India as a serious contender in the global quadruped robotics market.

Strider Robotics emerged from the Indian Institute of Science’s Stochastic Robotics Lab and was formally incorporated in 2024 after nearly a decade of research.

The company has focused on developing a quadruped robot that blends advanced locomotion control, reinforcement learning-based navigation, and AI-powered mission execution. This combination allows the robot to traverse uneven terrain while maintaining stability under heavy payloads.

The quadruped platform can carry up to 40 kilograms, a figure that matches China’s Unitree B2 and significantly surpasses Boston Dynamics’ Spot, which is limited to 14 kilograms. This payload capacity enables the robot to support sensor-heavy inspection missions, including thermal cameras, gas detection systems, LiDAR modules, and acoustic sensors. Such capabilities are crucial for industrial inspection in hazardous environments where human presence poses risks.

Strider Robotics has ensured that more than 80 percent of the robot’s components are indigenously produced, strengthening India’s defence and industrial supply chain resilience.

The company is also developing a hardware-agnostic AI software stack that can run on third-party quadruped platforms such as Spot, ANYmal, and Unitree B2. This approach allows operators to evaluate Strider’s software without needing to purchase new hardware, broadening its adoption potential.

The quadruped UGV is currently undergoing pilots in oil and gas facilities and automotive manufacturing plants. These pilots are designed to validate its performance in real-world industrial environments, where inspection missions demand reliability and endurance. The robot’s ability to carry complete sensor suites makes it a viable replacement for human inspectors in zones with explosive atmospheres or confined spaces.

The foundation of Strider’s technology lies in IISc’s MULE paper published in 2025, which proposed an adaptive reinforcement learning framework for quadrupedal robots.

This research, funded by ARTPARK, has been instrumental in enabling the robot to dynamically adapt to varying payloads and diverse terrains. Strider’s incubation at ARTPARK further provided the ecosystem support necessary to transition from academic research to commercial deployment.

The company envisions its quadruped UGV being deployed across energy, mining, infrastructure, and defence sectors.

Its autonomous inspection capabilities, combined with mission planning and asset monitoring, make it suitable for disaster response, security patrols, and industrial monitoring. Strider’s entry into the commercial quadruped market coincides with global growth, which is projected to expand from under $1 billion in 2025 to over $4 billion by 2035.

By positioning itself as an India-designed and India-built solution, Strider Robotics aims to undercut imported platforms in terms of cost and integration.

Its focus on indigenous content and AI-driven adaptability aligns with the Atmanirbhar Bharat vision, reinforcing India’s push towards self-reliance in advanced robotics and defence technologies.

Agencies