Ashis Ghosh is a robotics engineer and entrepreneur focused on turning advanced robotics research into systems that operate in real commercial environments. As co-founder and CTO of Peanut Robotics, he led the development of autonomous robotic systems designed for the hospitality industry, where automation must function reliably in dynamic human spaces rather than controlled laboratory settings.
Founded in 2018, Peanut Robotics is a company that specializes in developing robotic systems to solve problems that require complex levels of robotics technology; automating the cleaning of hotel bathrooms is just one of such instances. Many robotic innovations occur outside of the traditional line of research to commercialize robotic products, therefore, when Peanut Robotics began developing its products, it recognized that there was a very real opportunity for growth in this area. With that being said, cleaning hotel restrooms is a very difficult robotic challenge because bathroom cleaning requires that robots perform multiple robotic tasks simultaneously (e.g., navigate, perceive their environment, manipulate tools) in very confined and restricted spaces with many reflective surfaces and/or movable objects, as well as dealing with unpredictable human presence and human activity in that environment. Bathrooms vary significantly in layout, lighting conditions, and clutter, making them difficult environments for autonomous systems.
In response to this challenge, our engineering team has created an autonomous mobile manipulator that can perform autonomous cleaning operations in an active hotel environment. The system combines autonomous navigation with robotic manipulation to interact with the surfaces and/or tools necessary to complete the cleaning tasks allowing it to operate in environments that were designed exclusively for human workers.
A key engineering decision was designing the platform with a bill of materials around $10,000, dramatically lower than many robotics research platforms. This allowed the company to test and deploy the system repeatedly in commercial environments rather than limiting development to controlled demonstrations.
The robots were deployed in hospitality environments including properties associated with Sheraton and Hilton. Over time the systems accumulated more than 13,000 hours of commercial cleaning operations across deployments in the United States and with international customers. These deployments demonstrated that mobile manipulation systems could operate reliably in real service environments while generating revenue through commercial use.
The challenge of transferring service robots from the research lab to operational status is difficult due to the variability of work environments, such as hotels, where many factors are constantly changing or occur unexpectedly, such as variations in light levels; obstacles that are created because the environment and/or people within it can change at any time; and people moving. Therefore, when engineers build robots to meet these demands, they need to incorporate all four elements into one operational system: perception, navigation, manipulation, and safety.
The work attracted attention from organizations exploring automation for large facilities and complex service environments. The company held exploratory discussions with several global organizations, including Changi Airport, and a major entertainment company operating under a non-disclosure agreement. These discussions reflected growing industry interest in robotics systems capable of performing service tasks beyond traditional manufacturing settings.
Ashis Ghosh’s work has focused on solving the transition from laboratory capability to practical deployment. By prioritizing affordability, repeatable operation, and real-world testing, Peanut Robotics was able to move beyond demonstration projects and into operational environments where robotics systems could deliver measurable value.
As industries increasingly explore automation to address labor shortages and operational efficiency, robotics systems capable of working in everyday human environments are becoming more important. The work led by Ghosh reflects a broader shift in robotics development where success is measured by consistent performance in real-world environments rather than isolated demonstrations.
For Ashis Ghosh, the objective has remained consistent throughout his work in robotics: building systems that do not simply demonstrate technological capability but perform reliable, useful work in the environments where businesses and people operate every day.