Agilo Research offers a one-stop solution to build anything electronic

For all makers and creators bitten by the tech bug, here’s a device that will give wings to your innovative ideas

Agilo Research’s flagship product, evive aims to simplify learning, skill development and project making in the field of technology and science. The brand’s prototyping device coupled with an online learning center provides an enriched Do-It-Yourself experience for tech enthusiasts of all age groups.

The idea of experiential learning, if spread properly through right policies can change the face of the Indian education system. Recent initiatives like Atal Innovation Mission and the concept of Atal Tinkering Labs has been encouraging startups and students to give wings to their creative ideas.

Marrying innovation and learning

evive is an open-source embedded platform, that helps students and tech enthusiasts learn, build and debug robotics, embed systems and other projects. The device, powered by an Arduino Mega (a programmable microcontroller board refrerred to as the ‘brain’ in electronics and related projects) offers an on-screen menu, eliminating the pain of re-programming the Arduino repeatedly.

“The brand aims to bring the world of IoT in one small portable unit byoffering power supplies, sensory and actuators support with its prototyping device,” added Abhishek Sharma, COO & co-founder, Agilo Research.

Centered on an electronic prototyping device, an evive user can connect hardware and control them via user interface (the menu and the hardware interaction panel) or by adding his own program as a user defined function. They can then use its sensing capabilities to access critical parameters like currents and voltages and can also plot characteristic curves on the mini-oscilloscope to access behaviour. There are options to connect Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or XBee for wireless communication and the audio-visual feedback systems create a feedback mechanism to closely monitor the creation.

Aiming to suit different needs of users, evive is available as a starter kit, aimed at helping school students to make over a dozen different projects and understand new learning technologies. It also available as Robotic Arm Kit, mobile robot kit and an IoT kit, all of them come with a printed manual and guide to help the user make a specific project.

Decoding evive’s journey so far

Ahmedabad-based Agilo Research was founded in July 2016 by three engineering graduates – Abhishek Sharma, Dhrupal Shah and Pankaj Kumar Verma, alumni of IIT Kanpur. Bringing onboard an experience of over 15 years in robotics and embedded systems, they have worked with companies like Reliance and Boeing among others.

Abhishek and Dhrupal met at the Robotics Club and Institute Robocon Team in 2011. The duo developed a bond while working together and met their third co-founder, Pankaj in 2013. While working for a robotics competition, the trio sensed the need for something which could quicken testing and debugging of electronic circuits.

“We realised that the world needs a simpler technology building solution which takes care of everything from learning to building the project and from testing it for faults to repairing them. Soon enough, evive was born,” said Abhishek.

Standing out

As per a joint-study by Assocham and Thought Arbitrage Research Institute, India has risen to be home to the third largest number of technology driven startups in the world, competing with countries like the US and UK. The report reveals that in 2015, India’s tech startups numbered around 4,200 with the US occupying the top position with more than 47,000 and the UK with over 4,500.

In the tech startups space today, there are various companies that are helping users to learn and relearn critical aspects of technology by providing embedded solutions and services including Avishkaar, Bibox, Shalaaka among others.

evive differentiates itself by satisfying all needs of tech enthusiasts with a single device. It provides accessories for specific needs and an online learning center with free resources. The startup’s business model is committed to reduce significantly prototyping costs, complexity and time consumption for users.

Up next

Currently, the bootstrapped startup is backed by six full-time and three part-time members and generates revenues from the sale of products and accessories.

“Our current focus is on proving sustainability of business model and are on the verge of achieving it. Once achieved, the business model will be fed with external funding to accelerate growth,” said Abhishek.

Since its product launch, the brand has received global attention with orders flowing in from over 30 countries. The brand has so far, entered two international markets and tied up with three domestic distributors. Going ahead, evive is planning to reach more schools in India and take the brand to different geographies. It also aims to launch an online discussion forum soon.