Manipal students plan to make it big with their golgappa vending machine

A bunch of final year engineering students from Manipal Institute of Technology formed a group named 'Electrofoodies' and came up with an innovative prototype for golgappas (pani puri), a nationwide popular food item. The design revolves around an automatic golgappa vending machine that went on to clinch the first prize at the INK Makers finale held in Hyderabad's T-Hub.

The idea was born when a group of friends — Sahas Gembali, Sunanda Somu, Neha Srivastava and Karishma Agrawal — visited their favourite golgappa joint and found the vendor too occupied with customers all around him. They thought of finding a solution to it while they waited for their turn.

Speaking with Bangalore Mirror, Sahas Gembali said that golgappa does not have the recognition it deserves in the global market even though many NRIs would want to have the food item any day. He added,

We had ordered our dishes, but he was busy serving everyone waiting in the line for panipuri. We realised that serving panipuri is a very repetitive and mundane task and this is something that needs to be automated and, in the process, we can tackle issues such as hygiene and sell panipuri anytime and anywhere. We hence decided to develop a machine and started working on the prototype.

According to The Indian Express, this device releases the puris and makes holes for filling in the several ingredients. It then fills it with the stuffing and finishes it with a dip in the pani, at the cost of pushing one single button.

The 'Electrofoodies' had researched, observed and studied this concept for more than six months before they came together to decide and finalise on the prototype version. With an intention to globalise golgappa, they plan on selling it outside the country as well. To make it suitable for marketing and advertising, the machine also flaunts a smart display panel for advertisements.

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