ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We are thankful to thank Professor Murali Damodaran, our mentor for believing in us and motivating us, Prof Sudhir K Jain for taking deep interest in our work and helping us with funds and facilities at IIT Gandhinagar. We thank Mr. Anil Kothari for helping us set our Dishwasher testing station in no time so that we could work 24*7 in our small workshop, Mr. Ashish Pandey for staying in IIT Gandhinagar workshop late night for our safety. We are thankful to icreate for funding us and guiding us to the next phase after developing prototype 3, Symphony for providing product development insights and finally Timbor Home who allowed us to examine their modular kitchens to understand Dishwasher fixtures.

ABSTRACT

We are introducing Medium Sized Low Cost Automatic Dishwasher in the Indian Market. There is a huge category of people/families in India who need a Dishwashing unit but is hesitant to buy because the currently available units are big in size and too expensive. The proposed Dishwasher as the name suggests is medium sized and low cost that can be a counter-top, below top or wall hanging dishwasher in any kitchen.

The report contains the design details of the each and every component used in the Prototypes we have manufactured till date, description of the materials used and manufacturing process of the components. The details of the washing cycles with the operating parameters, along with the rationale, are also mentioned in the report.

The important features to look for are the Filter Design, Tray Design, Spray arm design and its fittings. The design of the internal components and outer body parts is done in-house, manufacturing of heavy body parts is outsourced while internal components and light body parts are manufactured in-house in the IIT Gandhinagar Mechanical workshop. One of the most critical things that deter Dishwasher from wide acceptance is that it requires pre-washing of Dishes before loading it in Dishwasher. The reason is its low capacity filter and its disability to drain waste while operating. Currently, work is going on in Testing the Advanced high capacity filter which will eliminate the need of Pre-wash in present Dish-washing machines.

Our current prototype (Prototype 3) equipped with Softening System, Filtration System and Heating System is capable of giving stainless vessels after 70 minutes of washing comprising of Pre-Wash Cycle, Main Wash Cycle (where detergent is added) and Rinse Cycle (where Rinse Aid is added). The test method used to determine the performance of the Dishwasher is mentioned in the Appendix.

The project was started as part of the Kinematics and Dynamics Laboratory Course ME 314 under guidance of Professor Murali Damodaran where I displayed a mechanical working model of the Dishwasher. I have taken the project forward with two of my colleagues Shashank Agarwal and Prateek Nyati (both from 3rd Year Mechanical Department) to develop the Prototype into a commercial product.

1. INTRODUCTION

Dishwasher is the next big thing in the Indian market after the acceptance of Refrigerator, Washing Machines and Microwave oven. The Home Appliances market in India is at a stage where the Automatic Dish-washers are recently introduced in most parts of the country and the need is slowly picking up. The Dishwashers currently in Market are the size of our washing machines and are priced at Rs 35000 on an average. These Dishwashers can take up heavy loads and are targeted at families of 5-6 people.

To this date, if we talk about Gujarat and specifically Ahmedabad, Only IFB and LG has launched its dishwasher whose price bracket is Rs 25000 –Rs 45000. Samsung is soon to launch its Dishwasher. No other company has yet introduced it in Gujarat. On examining more, we drew some observations:

1. The target consumer is a family of 5-6. There are two things: If a family can spend Rs 45,000, it can easily afford a servant and if the family has 5-6 members, at least 1 member is always there who can co-ordinate timings with the servant. So, the real need doesn’t arise from this section of households.

2. Most Dish-washers are used by families’ having 2-3 members where husband and wife are both working and it becomes difficult to manage timings with the servant or they don’t like having a servant or they are in metros (Mumbai, Delhi) where servants are not easily available.

3. Apart from this, there are lot of families of 2 (like professors living on campus) or 3-4 bachelors living together need a Dish-washer but they are hesitant to buy because

a. They are big in sizeb. They are expensive

Table 1: Comparison between Our Proposed Dish-washer and Existing Dish-washers

Sr. NOCOMPARISON

POINTSSMALL SIZED DISH-

WASHERCURRENT DISHWASHERS

IN MARKET

1 Size 550mm*550mm*550mm 600mm*600mm*800mm

2 Cost Rs 10,000-15,000 Rs. 30,000-50,000

3Types of Vessels it can accommodate

Dishes (4), Saucepans (2), Kadai (1), Cooker Bowls (2), Tiffin Box (2), Coffee

Mugs (2), microwave bowls

All given in the previous column with double the quantity including wine

glasses, bigger size storage vessels, pitcher

etc.

4Water Recycling

SystemYes Yes

5 Accessories Pump, Heating Coil Pump, Heating Coil

6 Filtration System2 Stage Filter (Simple

Filters)2 Stage Filter (Small

membrane filter)

7 Water Usage 70 Liters 35 Liters

8Modes of Washing

Cycle1 6

9Time Taken to

Wash45-80 minutes 100 – 150 minutes

10Manufacturing

MaterialsStainless Steel interior

and Plastic ExteriorComplete Stainless Steel

body

11 Additional Features NoneChild lock, Noise

Reduction

Thus, we want to launch a different category of an existing product for the class of customers which currently need a Dish-washer in India rather than the conventional ones which has very less demand in the Indian Market.

Target Consumer:

Family of 2-3 people where both husband and wife are working Bachelors living together (3-4 people) in a house who cannot manage time with servants due to their busy

work schedules or can easily spend Rs 10,000 to 15,000 to get rid of Dish-washing after a tiring day Professors (with their spouse) staying at various campuses (example: IITs, NITs, NID) where servants are

easily not available.

Small Offices, shops, institutions (max. 100 people) where they only have coffee mugs/tea cups/snacks plates to clean

1.1 Scope of Work:

Problem 1: No Table-top Dishwashers are available in the Indian market to cater to the families of 2-3 members, which are small in size and economic

Problem 2: Available Dishwashers require users to pre-wash dishes, as the current filters are small in size and unable to drain while the dishwasher is operating.

There has been an increase in the demand of Dishwasher from working class couples, families of 2-3 members living in metro cities, families living in campus housing areas, old-aged couples etc. This demand can be met by introducing a low-cost medium sized automatic Table-Top Dishwasher in the market.

None of the Dishwashers manufactured by any of the companies use the filter that we have proposed. Also, no patents have been filled for this design. We aim to take forward this design, and once we achieve substantial results we might look for potential tie-ups with companies manufacturing Dishwasher in India.

The first prototype of the idea was presented at International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology (icreate), Gujarat Government backed organization and was awarded a sum of Rs 50,000 to take the product forward.

2. METHOD OF APPROACH

I develop the proof of concept with my batch mates by showing the mechanical rotation of spray arms, sprinkling water on the tray kept above in the chamber. The tray was indigenously designed to accommodate vessels used by Indian family of 3-4 members. Images of the first prototype can be found in Figure 1

PROTOTYPE 1:

(a)

Figure 1: (a) First Prototype with KDM lab team (b) Close-up with Tray Design and Spray Arm

After successful Proof of concept we focused on the cleaning mechanism and spray arm that cleaned the plates. We examined two ways of cleaning plates:

Method 1: Keeping plates stationary and rotating the spray armMethod 2: Making the plates rotate along horizontal axis and water filled in the chamber up to a certain level (same as frontloading washing machines)

On testing both the methods, we concluded that method 1was giving better results. We then designed spray arm that had nozzles, which could change angles in two directions.

PROTOTYPE 2:

(a) (b)

Figure 2: (a) Main washing Chamber (b) External Circulation and Washing Chamber

Features:

1. Closed chamber with Wood body coated with Aluminum sheeta. Size: 500mm*500mm*500mm

2. Spray arm with moving nozzle [Figure 2]

3. Piping System: 0.75 inches diameter + relevant pipe joints

4. Pump: 0.25hp; Head = 24m; (Kept external)

5. Filter: Two-stage filter a & b (Kept External)

a. 500micron b. 300 micron

Testing Method:

We mixed all the regular Spices that are found in Indian Households like Red Chilly Powder, Chaat Masala, Turmeric, Garam Masala, Coriander Seed, and Pav Bhaji Masala in 100 ml of Oil. The mixture was thoroughly mixed and applied on front, back and all the edges of the plates. After application, the plates were left to dry for about 1 hour before loading into the Dishwasher. Figure 13 should de referred to see the images of plates before loading in the Dishwasher.

(a) (b)

Figure 3: (a) The mixture of oil and spices is applied on all sides and corners of all vessels. (b) Jaggery is applied on the plate that is one of the stickiest foods found in Indian households.

Jaggery

Experimental Conditions:

Table 2: Experimental Conditions for Prototype 2

Sr. No Attributes Specifics

1 Water Hardness 598

2 Water Temperature 20 C

3 Soap Vim-bar

4 Types Of Cycles Pre-Wash + Main Wash

5 Total Time 60 minutes

Results:

1. Satisfactory cleaning was not observed

a. A layer of food particles remained on the plates

b. Vessels were not cleaned thoroughly from the top

c. Less contact of water with plates

2. Total water usage: 100 liters

3. Electricity Calculation: 0.186 Unit

4. Nozzle angles were giving satisfactory results

Conclusions:

1. Softening of water must be done as hardness could be one of the probable reasons of layer deposition on plates

2. Temperature of water should be raised to decrease the surface tension of water for better cleaning results

3. Integrated Circulation and Filtration system should be built inside the washing chamber to reduce water wastage

4. A permanent Spray arm should be made as the nozzle angles were determined

5. A spray arm should be added on top as well

PROTOTYPE 3:

(a) (b)

Figure 4: (a) Prototype with all systems internalized (b) Prototype will main washing chamber and other systems externalized

Features:

Table 3: Salient Features of Prototype 3

Sr No Part Description Material

1 Body Washing Chamber: 550*550*550mm^3

Stainless Steel Grade 304

2 Three-Stage Filter 800 micron, 300 micron, 75 micron

Stainless Steel Grade 304

3 Heating Coil 1000 Watt Stainless Steel Grade 304

4 Water Softening System 1liter Sodium Ion Exchange Resin

-

5 Pump 0.5 hp -

6 Spray Arm 8 nozzle Acrylic

7 Tray 500*480*300mm^3 Stainless Steel, Powder Coated

8 Control System One Touch Control System -

2.1 Filter

As washing dishes in the Dishwasher is a long and automatic process, it will use close to 500 liters of water if we do not recirculate the water inside the machine. In order to reuse the water, it is mandatory we add a filtration system to sprinkle clean water every time on the dishes. The size of the particles varies from 1 micron to 10000 microns. For smooth functioning of and avoid jamming of filter, we use three stage filtering system wherein we have 800 micron, 300 micron and 75 micron stainless steel pleated filters kept concentrically with larger size filter having the smallest radius. The smallest available stainless steel filter is 5 micron in size.

2.1.1 Filter Assembly Part Description:

Figure 5: Exploded view of Filter Assembly

Finer part details are given in the Appendix attached at the end of this report.

Table 4: Description of Filter Part Assembly

Part Number Part Description Material Manufacturing Details

1 Base Plate Stainless Steel 304 Diameter: 210mm

2 800 micron filter Housing Stainless Steel 304 OD: 170mm Height: 100mm

3 300 micron filter housing Stainless Steel 304 OD: 145mm Height: 100mm

4 75 micron filter housing Stainless Steel 304 OD: 110mm Height: 100mm

5 Outer Body Stainless Steel 304

6 Outer Body Gasket Butyl Rubber U-Shape Gasket

7,8,9 Filter Housing Gaskets Butyl Rubber U-Shape Gasket

10 Brass Reducer Brass ANSI Metric M ProfileM8*1.25 Left

11 Pipe Nylon Braided PVC Pipe Diameter: 3/4"

12 Filter Connector Stainless Steel 304

Thread T ANSI Metric M Profile

M8*1.25 LeftOD: 80

2.1.2 Filter Assembly:

Figure 6: Assembled view of Filter

2.1.3 Discussions and Challenges:

We want to incorporate the 5 micron filter into the system to reduce the cleaning time but it possess various control and design challenges. Particle content in Indian vessels is relatively high and there are high chances that the small size membrane will jam and restrict the flow of the water. Also, as the size of the filter membrane decrease, more surface area needs to be provided to allow more water to pass which in turn increases the total size of the filter.

One of the possible solution could be to design the control system such that, the moment water flow starts to decrease because of jamming of the filter, inlet valve opens and extra water is added to maintain the RPM of the spray arm. Filter cleaning is also another issue that we need to work upon.

Stainless Steel filter membrane is attached in all three-filter housing depicted in the assembly view. The outermost housing hosts 75-micron filter membrane, middle housing hosts 300-micron filter membrane while innermost housing hosts 800-micron filter membrane.

(a) (b)

Figure 7: (a) Filter housing (b) Inside filter housing where particles are stuck on the filter membrane

2.2 Spray Arm

The spray arm rotates on the principle of Newton’s third law of motion. The water jets coming out of the nozzles impart a reaction force on the spray arm to produce couple and hence, the spray arm rotates. The spray is tapered from the sides (visible from the top view in Figure C) to maintain the equal flow rate from all the nozzles. The fan is carved out of acrylic sheets, as it is easy, economic and speedy to manufacture.

Going further, optimization needs to be done to reduce weight and the cross-section of the spray arm for higher velocity of jet. For mass production, Polypropylene should be used for making complex cross sections (e.g. Tapered from all sides) and lighter weight.

To attach the spray arms to the washing chamber, we have designed and manufactured various components at IIT Gandhinagar’s Mechanical Workshop which are shown below:

Figure 8: Spray Arm

Table 5: Nozzle Angles

Nozzle Number Angle with Z axis in YZ plane Angle with Z axis on XZ plane

1 +45 0

2 0 0

3 0 0

4 0 0

5 0 0

6 0 0

7 0 0

8 -45 0

2.2.1 Spray arm Assembly Part Description:

Figure 9: Exploded View of Spray Arm assembly

Finer part details are available in the Appendix attached at the end of the report.

Table 6: Part Description of Spray arm assembly

Part Number Part Description Part Material Manufacturing Process Threading

4 Spray Arm Acrylic Sheet Cutting and Joining using Chloroform

-

1 Collar PVC Turning and Threading ANSI Metric M ProfileM8*1.25 Right

5 Smoothener Teflon Turning -

2 Connector PVC Turning and Threading ANSI Metric M ProfileM8*1.25 Left

3 Bush PVC Turning and Threading ANSI Metric M ProfileM8*1.25 Right

8 2” – 1” Reducer PVC Turning and Threading ANSI Metric M ProfileM8*1.25 Left

9 1”-3/4” Reducer PVC Turning Tight Fit

6 L Joint Galvanized Iron Outsourced ANSI Metric M ProfileM8*1.25 Left

7 Pipe Nylon Braided PVC Outsourced -

Spray arm Assembly:

Figure 10: Assembled Spray arm

2.2.3 Discussions:

The outer side of the connector bush is attached to the washing chamber through Araldite. Araldite provides waterproofing as well as strength to the assembly. Manufacturing details of all the parts are given in the appendix for reference.

The connector is threaded with the collar. The lower face of the flange of the collar rests on the Teflon Smoothener, which rests on the base of the Bush. Thus, the Teflon Smoothener reduces the friction when the Connector, which is threaded with the Collar, which rotates with respect to the Stationary Bush. The Collar is attached to the spray arm through Araldite (adhesive).

2.3 Water Softening System

Water Softening System is used to reduce hardness of the tap water. It is one of the most important system of the Dishwashing Machine as hard water hampers cleaning, uses excess detergent, causes blockages in the pump and degrades surface finish of the internal body parts.

1 liter of Standard softening Resins available in the market have the capacity to remove the hardness of water by almost 95% given the flow rate of water be close to 2 liter/minute. To increase the flow rate, more volume of resin should be added.

Figure 11: Water Softening Resins

Figure 12: Water Softening Resin Column

Table 7: Part Description of Softening Assembly

Part Number Part Description Dimensions

1 Pipe 12.77 mm Diameter

2 Resin Column 400mm Height

3 Hose Clip 25.4mm Max Diameter

2.3.1 Discussion:

One of the major drawbacks of the Softening system is that it takes lot of time to soften the water, hence increases the Washing time. Suppose we require 20 liters for a sub-cycle, softening of water will increase the washing time by 10 minutes. Below is the assembly diagram of the softening system, with one end attached to the tap and the other to the Dishwashing chamber.

2.4 Pump

In Prototype 2 we used a 0.25 horsepower pump (178 Watts) which was sufficient for water jets coming out from 1 spray arm.

To operate two spray arms in Prototype 3, we used 0.5 horsepower pump (378 Watts)

2.4.1 Pump Assembly Part Drawing:

Figure 13: Exploded View of Pump Assembly

Finer part details are available in the Appendix attached at the end of the report.

Table 8: Part Description for Pump Assembly

Part Number Part Description Dimensions Threading Material

1 T-Joint ID: 25.4mm OD: 33mm

ANSI Metric M ProfileM8*1.25 Left

Galvanized Iron

2 Brass ReducerThreaded OD:

25.4mmEdged OD: 18mm

ANSI Metric M ProfileM8*1.25 Right Brass

3 Straight Joint ID: 21.50mmOD: 25.40mm

ANSI Metric M ProfileM8*1.25 Right

Galvanized Iron

4 Pipe ID: 19.05mmOD: 25.5mm

- Nylon Braided PVC

5 PumpLength: 200mm

Casing Diameter: 150mm

- Steel Casing

6 Hose Clip Max Diameter: 30mm

- Mild Steel

2.4.2 Pump Assembly:

Figure 14: Assembled View of Pump

2.5 Tray

The tray should accommodate different size and types of Indian vessels in a way that each vessel is sufficiently exposed to water jets for effective cleaning. We visited various households of 3-4 member families to identify various types and sizes of vessels they use. After getting substantial knowledge about the type and size of vessels, we then started designing the most effective and compact tray.

Initial Design:

We designed a tray with spikes gas-welded at all the cross-joints on the base as shown in Figure 14a

(a) (b)

Figure 15: (a) Unloaded Tray with spikes at every cross-section (b) Tray loaded with vessels

Figure 14b shows the effectiveness of the tray as it can hold variety of vessels. But, when we asked people outside our Team to load vessels in tray, they found it difficult to load vessels as the entire tray was uniform and they got confused where to load which vessel.

So we re-designed the tray with specific sections for loading different types of vessel. The Isometric view of the new tray is shown in Figure 16 and sections are highlighted in Figure 17

Figure 16: Isometric view of the indigenous Tray for loading vessels

Figure 17: Section wise distribution of tray for accommodating various kinds of vessels

2.6 Body

The Dimension of the Dishwasher is 520mm*520mm*600mm.

Image of the Dishwasher Body

Table 9: Composition of Vertical Height

Part Height

Thickness of Washing Chamber 2mm

Spray Arm Assembly 45mm

Spray Arm 15mm

Clearance 30mm

Plate 300mm

Clearance 30mm

Spray Arm 15mm

Spray Arm Assembly 45mm

Wall Thickness 5mm

Clearance 5mm

Pump 100mm

Wall Thickness 2mm

Total Height 594mm

Length and Breadth are governed by the size of the tray, clearance and thickness of the Wall.

The Shape of Dishwasher is square with rounded edges having tapered shape at the bottom face for easy handling.

2.7 Heating Coil

As the temperature of water is raised, the surface tension of the water decreases which in turn improves spreading of water on the surface. There are two coils

Table 10

Characteristics 1000W Coil 1500W Coil

Heating Rate 0.66 C/minute 1 C/minute

Total time taken 35 minutes 20 minutes

Length of the Coil 440 mm 580 mm

Conditions:

Quantity of water = 20 Liters

Material of Vessel: Mild Steel

Open to Atmosphere

Test Method:

Test method is similar to above-mentioned method for Prototype 2

Experimental Condition:

Table 11: Experimental Conditions during testing Prototype 3

Sr No Property Quantity

1 Water Hardness 20

2 Water Temperature Average 40

3 Soap + Rinse Aid Dishmatic

4 Types of Cycles 3: Pre Wash + Main Wash + Rinse Wash

5 Cycle Time 70 minutes

Results:

1. Highly Satisfactory results were observed

a. No traces of food could be found on the plates

b. Improved contact of water with plates

c. Plates cleaned from both sides

2. Water Usage: 60 liters

3. Electricity Consumption: 0.72 Unit

Conclusions:

1. Basic Dishwasher circuit is complete and giving good results.

2.8 Dishwasher Control System:

Table 12: Parts used for making Control System of Prototype 3

Control Circuit Parts Photograph

Arduino UNO Micro-controller Board: Atmega 328

Solenoid Valve: Operation Water Pressure 0.2-10 bar

Turbidity Sensor: WD21X10272; Manufactured by General Electric

Thermistor

Relay Switch: Operating Voltage: 12V; Terminals: 5

Water Level Measuring Sensor

Hall Effect Sensor

2.8.1 Feedback Control:

Preliminary Control System has been developed using Sensors on Arduino Platform:

1. Hall Effect Sensors2. Turbidity Sensors3. Water-Level Sensor4. Temperature Sensor

Complete circuitry details along with the ARDUINO CODE are available in the Appendix attached at the end of the report.

Turbidity Sensor Water Level and Temperature Hall Effect Sensor

Sensor

(a) (b) (c)

3. CURRENT WORK:

Modeling of Advanced Filter System

Filter Design:

(a) (b)

(c)

Figure 19 a.) Base Suspension of New Advanced 3-Stage Filter b.) Side View of the Base that is tapered to avoid leakage due to press-fit c.) Opening of base plate due to compression in spring. The compression in spring is caused

by activation of electromagnet fitted inside steel casing

Simulation:

CFD Simulation is performed to determine the pressure distribution in the filter to find the effective Spring Constant. The Code along with other parameters is attached in the Appendix. Results from the Simulation are presented here to calculate the spring constant K:

Table: 13: Data Table for Calculating Value of spring constant K

Parameters Values

Total Area of Base 32568.6 mm2

Area of Rubber Opening 5024 mm2

Safety Factor 1.5

Relaxed Length of Spring 27.5 mm

Max Desired Change in Length of Spring 10 mm

Average Pressure 980 Pa

Force on the plate (Z Direction) - 3.19e+07 μN

Simulation Photographs:

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Figure 20 a.) Meshing b.) Free Motion c.) Static Pressure d.) Material Selection

Finding the Spring Constant:

Case 1: Pump is ON; Filter is CLOSED

Total force on base in downward direction = 31.9 NAverage pressure on base = 980 paForce on the cork = pressure * area of opening = 980*5024/1000000 = 4.92 NDownward force on stopper when pump is ON = 4.92 NSpring Force = = 4.92 N K = .492 N/mm

Case 2: Pump is OFF; Filter CLOSED

Total force on base in downward direction = 63.8 NAverage pressure on base = 1960 paForce on the cork = pressure * area of opening = 1960*5024/1000000 = 9.85 NDownward force on stopper when pump is OFF= 9.85 NSpring Force = K*Δx =9.85 N K = 985 N/m

We observed that force required when filter is off is more, we choose the spring with spring constant K = 985N/m.

Taking Safety Factor into Consideration

New Force = 14.775 N

Thus, the new spring constant K = 1477.5 N/m

4. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK

I consider making PROTOTYPE 3 as the biggest success till date. After completing this prototype, we are able to get the big picture of what are the features, design challenges, control challenges involved in making a commercial Home Appliance.

Important Accomplishments during Prototype 3:

1. Spray Arm Design: In all initial models of spray arm, we fitted bearing between spray arm and inlet as seen in Figure 20, which will facilitate rotation of spray arm while water is entering through a static pipe attached to the spray arm. We were not getting satisfactory results as water leaked from the gaps of roller bearing.

Picture of Spray arm with Bearing:

Figure 21: First Spray arm design with bearing in between spray and pipe T-Joint

We removed the bearing and designed the spray arm whose success lies in inserting the Teflon Smoothener between the Connector and Bush surface as seen in Figure 8. As the water jet comes out, Connector is pushed against the Bush, which reduces the chances of water leakage. At the same time, the smooth surface of the Teflon ring facilitates rotation of the spray arm.

2. Heating Chamber: Initially, we designed Heating Chamber equipped with heating coil that was placed midway between the Filter and pump. The water from the filter fills in the heating chamber through its inlet and passes to the pump though its outlet. Because of the three-stage filter, inlet speed of the water was less compared to the outlet suction of the pump. Thus we had to replace the chamber.

We finally removed the heating chamber, instead substituted the main chamber as the heating chamber. We inserted heating coil at the bottom of the main washing chamber, which heated the water collected in the chamber. Thus, the entire circuit was highly simplified with only filter and pump in the circuit.

Looking Forward:

There are three areas that are critical for the success of Table-top Dishwasher:

1. Filter System

2. Control System

3. Cost of Manufacturing

Filter System:

The filter system that we have come up with is highly advanced and is a differentiating feature of Dishwasher from the rest in the market. Much work needs to be done like Prototyping, material selection, integration with Control system etc. If by prototyping, sufficient results are obtained, it is much likely that one can patent the design. The filter design can directly be sold to Dishwasher manufacturing companies like IFB, Samsung, and Bosch etc. as they do not seem to have come up with this feature yet.

Control System:

We have developed Control Code for individual components to operate and feedback loop Sensors. To integrate all the electrical elements and feedback loops to work simultaneously, we need help of an engineer who has experience in designing Control Logic for Commercial Home Appliances.

Manufacturing:

Manufacturing cost of a Dishwasher is huge as number of parts involved is high and each part must be manufactured to high standards because of stringent requirements of durability (most of the parts should have minimum 3-4 Years of durability), leak-proofing and safety.

To sum it, it is difficult to manufacture Dishwasher single-handedly, but there are lots of companies in Ahmedabad who are interested in the concept of Low-Cost Dishwasher. I interacted with Timbor Home, Ahmedabad Based India’s largest Modular Kitchen Retailer, who showed great interest in the concept. They were keen on buying the design of our Dishwasher provided it is made to Commercial standards. They also threw some ideas like developing a Kitchen Crusher for Indian market. Marketing and Technical Managers of Symphony, Ahmedabad based world’s largest Air-Cooler manufacturer, gave us valuable guidance regarding inclusion of features in the product etc. Much benefit has not been leveraged off late, but Symphony seems to be a potential company for tie-up.

Entrepreneurial Lessons learnt:

One needs to start with a product that is easily manufacturable, that is not capital intensive and one of the team members has past experience in the field of work. It is very important to involve yourself deeply in the product you are making so as to dig out the secrets hidden inside. I consider my decision of dropping my summer internship to work on Dishwasher as one of the best decisions. I read lot of patent papers, visited companies to get an insight of what goes in developing a commercial product. Also, I realized that much work is done in this area lately.

It is very important for all the students who enroll for ME314 for the coming years to take their product to another level to get an understanding of the feasibility of their ideas. I consider myself grateful for registering for the course ME314 and thankful to Professor Murali Damodaran to keep motivating and believing in me all the time.