Since February 2023, several Fridays have featured intense virtual discussions between the students and faculty from National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK) and a team from Udupi-based Robosoft Technologies Pvt Ltd on a particular project — ‘Solmelu’ (meaning ‘greetings’ in the local lingo Tulu).

Jointly developed by Robosoft and NITK, ‘Solmelu’ intends to help local artisans of Dakshina Kannada (DK) and Udupi districts to highlight local art, heritage, culture and, consequently, improve their business. It aims to supplement existing businesses and support them by providing more visibility and opportunities.

It was initially started by NITK’s Nishant Nayak, Sushanth S Rao, Gaurang Velingkar and Shashank SM (graduates now); and is now being continued by Harshit Gupta, Apoorva Agrawal, Anirudh V Gubbi, Nishant AS, Vedant Tarale, Abhishek Satpathy, Sai Aswin Madhavan and Vinit Puranik (all students from diverse engineering disciplines and academic years).

The Robosoft team and NITK faculty members — Saumya Hegde and Mohit P Tahiliani — have been mentoring students to refine the framework and build the application, and in its launch.

High resonance

Highlighting the platform’s potential for local engagement, Anirudh Gubbi recalls an incident at the recently-concluded Mangaluru Technovanza event. He and Harshit Gupta, who wore T-shirts featuring the logo with ‘Solmelu’ written on it, were at a store when a customer, curious about the name, enquired what it was about. After hearing about their project, he was so intrigued that he promised that he would share the information on his network. The platform hadn’t even been launched at that time. “But seeing his reaction made us realise that the project’s concept has already resonated with the locals,” Gubbi said.

Tahiliani says despite DK and Udupi regions attracting millions of tourists annually, no comprehensive platform exists for local businesses to promote their offerings or for tourists to explore the unique cultural aspects of these regions. Though the region draws students from all over the country, many students remain unaware of the area’s rich culture and attractions due to the lack of an accessible information platform. “We believe ‘Solmelu’ can bridge this gap, enhancing the tourist experience, supporting local businesses and celebrating the unique heritage of the region,” he said.

Collaborative effort

Asked about the origin of the partnership, Siddhartha Singh, Robosoft’s Principal Digital Consultant, said Robosoft and NITK always look at each other with immense pride as Robosoft was incubated in NITK. Ravi Teja Bommireddipalli (CEO) and Pooja Mohan Bal from Robosoft, and B Ravi (NITK Director) and Tahiliani envisaged this collaboration.

NITK students are at the heart of this collaboration, he said. “There would have been no progress without them. They research, plan, discuss, design, code and review,” he explains. The faculty members and his Robosoft colleagues — Kiran B, Sree Nidhi BS, and Vidyakrishna Jois G — guide them in building the platform, providing them with necessary inputs.

The students’ team had a very rough guideline about what the app might be about in February 2023, Harshit Gupta says, adding: “We spent two-three months on the idea, and had a lot of iterations on what would be the core features of the app.”

Evolution of the app

Tahiliani says through weekly meetings between NITK faculty, students and the Robosoft team, ‘Solmelu’ took shape, evolving step by step. The NITK team contributed fresh ideas, perspectives, and technical insights, while the Robosoft team brought expertise in application design and development, he said, adding that the platform encourages students to think beyond conventional technology solutions, focusing on cultural and regional relevance.

To a query on how the continuity of students is maintained as every year NITK gets a new set of students, Siddhartha Singh explains that the faculty members at NITK ensure that there is a good mix of students from all the batches. The group includes students from different academic years and diverse disciplines.

Visibility

Singh says the app was officially launched recently, and the Robosoft and NITK teams are working towards adding as many businesses, vendors on the platforms as possible. On its visibility across the country, Singh says Robosoft’s marketing team led by Lakshmipathy Bhat is backing its efforts. “Initially, we want to become a household name in coastal Karnataka. Gradually, based on the experience that we provide on the app and also the marketing efforts, we will move up the SEO rankings,” he explains.

Tahiliani says Solmelu is a prime example of NITK’s commitment to providing students with hands-on, socially relevant and innovative project opportunities. By developing Solmelu, students have been able to apply their technical skills to build a platform to uplift local vendors in the region, promote the rich culture and help improve tourism. This project aligns perfectly with NITK’s larger mission of empowering students to create positive societal impact through technology.

Singh concludes by saying that ‘Solmelu’ is a CSR project, and NITK and Robosoft intend to serve its roots (coastal Karnataka) through this initiative.