The engineer who taught a machine to make rotis
The Times of India [
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Oct 1, 2025 | Page No.: 12 | Position: Top Right | Source: Akhil George | Sq Cm: 343 | AVE: 1932173 | PR Value: 9660865
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<br>The engineer who taught a machine to make rotis Enrol AidtiLGeorgegti m es ofi nd i a.comsays. We needed over-the-air recipes, diagnostics and re- Aberoti, Pranoti Nagarkar mote fixes because our users likes to say, is a non- were spread worldwide. That Newtonian fluidits telemetry later underpinned haviour shifts with support. The machine knows pressure, temperature and its own healthmotor cur- time. That scientific itch sits rents, sensor drift, even clean- at the heart of Rotimatic, the ing lapsesand we can nudge robot she conceived to auto- maintenance or push targeted mate a task millions consider fixes without a service visit. both quotidian and madden- ing. You dont have perfect 200 million rotis served parameters every time, she So far, 200 million rotis have says. Even humans adjust been served in more than along the way The machine 100,000 homes across 58 she imagined had to develop countries, with the United the same instinct: to sense, States as the biggest market. decide and correct in real time That early diaspora demand so a single button-press could gave us the runway to keep yield a hot, well-puffed roti, improving, she says. again and again. A dedicated user base has Nagarkar traces the idea to even stretched the machines her years in Singapore as a repertoire. People are won- mechanical-engineering stu- derfully inventive, she says. dent and young product de- They add protein powders, signer. Im a builder by na- spices, multi-grain mixes. ture, she says. I learnt how Rotimatic takes a couple of to take an appliance from cycles to learn and then re- concept to a working proto- members. That adaptiveness type then the harder leap to is magic. The firm publishes a robust, manufacturable official profiles for millets and product. In 2008 she co-found- gluten-free flours, but shes ed Zimplistic with software happiest when customers ex- engineer and husband Rishi periment. As long as its dry Israni; who is the CTO of the ingredients, go ahead, she firm. Rotimatic needed a says laughing. brain after all, she says. To actually build the prod- toiRoti is a non-Newtonian uct, Pranoti began by decon- fluid-you never have structing the ritual of making perfect parameters, so the a roti. Youre automating machine must sense and adjust several major actionsmeas- in real time. I built Rotimatic uring and dispensing flour, for one-click automation and water and oil; making a dough micro-kneading-one dough ball; transferring; flattening; ball at a time-using cooking to flame-like finish; commodity sensors as a and ejecting, she says. And tactile-sensing system. We all of this had to be done with- added connectivity for recipe in a form factor that would be updates and remote suitable for your average diagnostics, and a camera with kitchen. I set a microwave- vision tech so it learns each ish form factor and refused to flour type. The aim is simple: grow beyond it and so built a hot rotis on demand, without thermocol mock-up to freeze depending on the size, then hand-built rigs anyone. to prove pressing and knead- Pranoti ing. The commercial machine Nagarkar i still matches that early silhou- FOUNDER & CEO, ette, she says. Mr:11571C The pivotal design choice, (ROTIMAT1C) Pranoti says, that helped Roti- matic become a practical ma- chine that works, was the deci- sion to design the machine to make one dough ball at a time. In homes you batch-knead, then divide. We eliminated that. We micro-knead in- Manufacturing the actual steadsmaller mass, higher machine followed a classic precision. That did raise scale-up arc. We tooled in complexity however. Any Malaysia to begin within- time you go micro, your reso- vested in moulds, set up a lution and tolerances get bru- line, trained technicians,-- tal, she says. We had to and shipped to our early achieve lab-like repeatability adopters, she says. As we with commodity parts. matured, we relocated manu- The sensing philosophy of facturing to the Bengaluru- the machine in a way mirrors Mysuru region to be closer human judgement. We stud- to engineering, suppliers and ied floursfor example ragi our India roadmap. The In- absorbs water differently to dia move also reflected af- cornmealbut data tables fordability goals. Cost mat- werent enough to solve the ters, she says. Bringing the problem, she says. Humans supply chain home helps us feel dough. So we built a tac- keep improving the price-to- tile-sensing system with off- value equation. the-shelf sensors, then taught The newest iteration of the machine to adjust flour- the product is Rotimatic water-oil ratios and kneading NEXT. Weve put a camera dynamics on the fly behind the door and added While the company has IP vision AI now, she says. If that has been published for a roti puffs and pops a hole, their tech, Pranoti says the the system can see weak hard part is the internal know- gluten bonds and strengthen howhow each sensor talks kneading on the very next to the algorithm, how deci- dough ballfor that specific sions happen every second. flour. Extra sensors in the Making sure the machine kneading assembly sharpen was connected to the net was its grasp of flour-water-oil also a deliberate choice that ratios. Its the same idea turned out to be crucial for its taken further: more eyes longterm success. IoT wasnt and ears, better decisions, fashionable decor for us, she better food, she says. <br>The engineer who taught a machine to make rotis Enrol AidtiLGeorgegti m es ofi nd i a.comsays. We needed over-the-air recipes, diagnostics and re- Aberoti, Pranoti Nagarkar mote fixes because our users likes to say, is a non- were spread worldwide. That Newtonian fluidits telemetry later underpinned haviour shifts with support. The machine knows pressure, temperature and its own healthmotor cur- time. That scientific itch sits rents, sensor drift, even clean- at the heart of Rotimatic, the ing lapsesand we can nudge robot she conceived to auto- maintenance or push targeted mate a task millions consider fixes without a service visit. both quotidian and madden- ing. You dont have perfect 200 million rotis served parameters every time, she So far, 200 million rotis have says. Even humans adjust been served in more than along the way The machine 100,000 homes across 58 she imagined had to develop countries, with the United the same instinct: to sense, States as the biggest market. decide and correct in real time That early diaspora demand so a single button-press could gave us the runway to keep yield a hot, well-puffed roti, improving, she says. again and again. A dedicated user base has Nagarkar traces the idea to even stretched the machines her years in Singapore as a repertoire. People are won- mechanical-engineering stu- derfully inventive, she says. dent and young product de- They add protein powders, signer. Im a builder by na- spices, multi-grain mixes. ture, she says. I learnt how Rotimatic takes a couple of to take an appliance from cycles to learn and then re- concept to a working proto- members. That adaptiveness type then the harder leap to is magic. The firm publishes a robust, manufacturable official profiles for millets and product. In 2008 she co-found- gluten-free flours, but shes ed Zimplistic with software happiest when customers ex- engineer and husband Rishi periment. As long as its dry Israni; who is the CTO of the ingredients, go ahead, she firm. Rotimatic needed a says laughing. brain after all, she says. To actually build the prod- toiRoti is a non-Newtonian uct, Pranoti began by decon- fluid-you never have structing the ritual of making perfect parameters, so the a roti. Youre automating machine must sense and adjust several major actionsmeas- in real time. I built Rotimatic uring and dispensing flour, for one-click automation and water and oil; making a dough micro-kneading-one dough ball; transferring; flattening; ball at a time-using cooking to flame-like finish; commodity sensors as a and ejecting, she says. And tactile-sensing system. We all of this had to be done with- added connectivity for recipe in a form factor that would be updates and remote suitable for your average diagnostics, and a camera with kitchen. I set a microwave- vision tech so it learns each ish form factor and refused to flour type. The aim is simple: grow beyond it and so built a hot rotis on demand, without thermocol mock-up to freeze depending on the size, then hand-built rigs anyone. to prove pressing and knead- Pranoti ing. The commercial machine Nagarkar i still matches that early silhou- FOUNDER & CEO, ette, she says. Mr:11571C The pivotal design choice, (ROTIMAT1C) Pranoti says, that helped Roti- matic become a practical ma- chine that works, was the deci- sion to design the machine to make one dough ball at a time. In homes you batch-knead, then divide. We eliminated that. We micro-knead in- Manufacturing the actual steadsmaller mass, higher machine followed a classic precision. That did raise scale-up arc. We tooled in complexity however. Any Malaysia to begin within- time you go micro, your reso- vested in moulds, set up a lution and tolerances get bru- line, trained technicians,-- tal, she says. We had to and shipped to our early achieve lab-like repeatability adopters, she says. As we with commodity parts. matured, we relocated manu- The sensing philosophy of facturing to the Bengaluru- the machine in a way mirrors Mysuru region to be closer human judgement. We stud- to engineering, suppliers and ied floursfor example ragi our India roadmap. The In- absorbs water differently to dia move also reflected af- cornmealbut data tables fordability goals. Cost mat- werent enough to solve the ters, she says. Bringing the problem, she says. Humans supply chain home helps us feel dough. So we built a tac- keep improving the price-to- tile-sensing system with off- value equation. the-shelf sensors, then taught The newest iteration of the machine to adjust flour- the product is Rotimatic water-oil ratios and kneading NEXT. Weve put a camera dynamics on the fly behind the door and added While the company has IP vision AI now, she says. If that has been published for a roti puffs and pops a hole, their tech, Pranoti says the the system can see weak hard part is the internal know- gluten bonds and strengthen howhow each sensor talks kneading on the very next to the algorithm, how deci- dough ballfor that specific sions happen every second. flour. Extra sensors in the Making sure the machine kneading assembly sharpen was connected to the net was its grasp of flour-water-oil also a deliberate choice that ratios. Its the same idea turned out to be crucial for its taken further: more eyes longterm success. IoT wasnt and ears, better decisions, fashionable decor for us, she better food, she says.