The Great Startup Story 1
Rotibot - A roti-making appliance for the masses!
Can you help me make rotis?
Question from my wife, in 2011. Flipping rotis aka chapathis down south, I was thinking about how to get rid of this tedious task. I was sweating in the kitchen — no fan when the stove is on. The first idea was to make a five-roti tawa, which gets the job done faster. This is the seed of Rotibot. Weeks later, a friend mentioned the possibility of appliances that automatically cook Indian food. The idea had taken shape. A roti-making appliance for the masses!
One year later, on a rainy evening, I made the first sketch of Rotibot. It looked like a mobile robot. At this point of time, Ingen Robotics was trying to do multiple things — image processing, robot arms, material transport robots, mobile apps, telepresence robot and so on. With our minimal resources, we made little progress on our dream ideas. All our energy was taken up by projects that paid for our expenses. Rotibot became one of these side projects at Ingen Robotics.
Initial experiments to make a flour mixer were disastrous. We tried many approaches. It became clear that food science knowledge was central to this product. So I took a short course at the Central Food Technology Research Institute in Mysore. I soaked up every bit of information I could get. And got very useful insights into the chemistry and rheology of wheat. We started to understand why our experiments failed, and what could possibly work.
The first concepts we generated were not practical for a home appliance. They looked like factories. We made virtual models and brainstormed for months, trying to simplify it. Then we started physical prototyping of the complete appliance. The first prototype jammed in the first (and last) test. Frustrated, we worked on the second prototype which used an entirely different configuration. I made a design overnight using thermocol, masking tape and a knife. We built only the core components; no dispenser or ejector. We made the first proper rotis with the second prototype. This gave us the confidence to go further.
While working on the first version, we reflected on our goals and the resources we have. We realised that the chances of a small company succeeding on multiple products in parallel are nil. So we took a bold decision. We stopped all our revenue generating but time-consuming projects, and all other ambitious projects. From that point on Ingen Robotics did only one thing — Rotibot. I put in all my money and assets into Rotibot. Looking back this was a good decision. Though we had to endure many hardships, Rotibot came to life.
The third prototype we built was rather over engineered, and we gave up on that approach. Using simpler methods we built the fourth one. It worked quite well. We were in stealth mode at that time and demoed to very few people. And we started applying for patents. The fifth prototype had proper designs for parts, electronics and software. By this time we had learned a lot about building mechatronic appliances. And it was visible in our work.
A major challenge we faced was manufacturing. Trivandrum is not an industrial city. And vendors are not interested in making one or two pieces. So we went to the Mitraniketan Rural Technology Centre to make components for our initial versions. They are far away from the city but had the time and a very skilled machinist to do our work. Later on, we started using 3D printing and laser cutting wherever possible and worked with vendors in Coimbatore.
The fifth version worked okay but was too tall, and made a startling noise. We solved these problems in the sixth version. We came out of stealth mode, filed for 6 patent applications and announced Rotibot to the world. And moved to a nice office in Technopark. The seventh iteration gave us a lighter machine and better-tasting rotis. The media started covering us, and we demoed to many people. Presently we are preparing for the first pilot version that will go out to real users.
Usability is the USP of Rotibot. It is easy to clean and operate. Parts to wash are less and surfaces to clean are smaller compared to the competition. Maintenance cost is also lower because the number of parts and motors are lesser. Rotibot is a product that uses a multitude of technologies. It employs algorithms that use data from optical sensors and current sensors to control the amount of water to be added and the extent of kneading to be done.
As a startup, Ingen Robotics has developed the capability to conceptualise robotic appliances that do not exist and bring them to life. This is the future of our world. We are replacing human labour with machines, outside and inside our homes. So that we can live more meaningful lives. And spend more time on what really matters to us. At Ingen Robotics, we would like to genuinely ask — “What more can you do Today?”.
Authored by Rejin Narayanan, Founder, Rotibot and CEO, Ingen Robotics
