I returned from Bangalore a week back, after making a few long overdue visits.
To Inventrom:
After almost a year and a half, I met my mentor, Mr. Pranav Pai Vernekar (Founder-Inventrom) and had a chance to see the latest version of Inventrom’s flagship product: the Bolt 2 Internet Of Things platform.
I’ve had previous experience with other IOT platforms as well as Bolt v1, so here’s a short report highlighting its salient features:
Bolt is an IOT development platform with full cloud support, for enterprise-ready products and solutions.
The size and dimensions of the board allows easy storage and portability. It’s about half the size of its predecessor and almost a quarter the size of a Raspberry Pi Model B. Most of all, the speed of its processor is 300% faster!
The board itself has no external storage (external micro-SD card), but the codes can be pushed as files onto the cloud as ‘updates’.
Bolt 2 doesn’t have extra reference files within the system since everything is stored in the cloud, so it’s next to impossible to steal any data (Wi-Fi password, etc.) from the extra text files.
(This was the first security breach I found in the previous version of Bolt. Thankfully it’s been rectified.)
Bolt has 6 input/output (I/O) pins, of which there are 5 digital I/O’s and one analog pin.
It doesn’t have an AVR micro-controller (unlike its predecessor) and all the thinking is done by the ESP-8266 Wi-Fi module, thus saving space as well as energy.
The initial setup is highly intuitive and is over before you know it (just 4 steps).
Inventrom’s new office in Indiranagar, Bangalore is a swanky shared-workspace area. Coffee, beanbags and an excellent broadband connection are just a part of the deal which landed them here.
Note: Inventrom still has a branch office in Panaji, Goa, but their HQ is now in Bangalore.
To Mukunda Foods:
First off, I love dosas. I’m a Goan, but my breakfast culinary preferences are partial to South Indian cuisine.
During this visit, I had a chance to see the famous Dosamatic in action and also meet the awesome people behind it.
Dosamatic is a dosa-lovers dream come true! It’s a table-top autonomous dosa production machine which can make an astonishing 50 dosas per hour at the touch of a button! The loading procedure is extremely simple and straightforward:(3 containers for oil, water & batter) just pour in the oil, water and batter (you get ready-made batter quite easily nowadays) in the respective containers and run the machine.
And do you get the same old plain, boring dosa every time? No! The Dosamatic can be configured as per the user’s fancy, which includes plain dosa, masala dosa as well as uthappams. If that wasn’t enough, these guys went ahead and added special adjustments for changing the thickness, size, fat content (for the diet-conscious), cooking time, roast temperature (which gives you variations in crispness), etc. Different varieties of batter can be used as per the owner’s preference.
What about pancakes and omelettes? They say that this too is possible.
As far as power consumption goes, the Dosamatic is quite energy efficient, consuming 3 Kilowatts per hour and running off a single phase 220/110V power supply.
Here’s the best part: The entire machine, right from the design, development and manufacture is done in-house at Mukunda Foods in Bangalore! Talk about ‘indi-genius’!
UPDATE : They recently launched another product called the Doughbot. Working on similar lines as Dosamatic, this machine can give you 150 ready-to-cook rotis/puris/parathas in an hour and run continuously for 14 hours making over 1200 dough balls! The input parameters can be changed for size, softness and quantity as well as the type of flour being used, which includes maida, atta, bajra, ragi and millet. The machine itself weighs only 20 kg, is 1×0.5 feet in size and consumes just half a kilowatt of power.
To Bizmobile IT Solutions:
Last but not the least, a quick visit to the office of Bizmobile IT Solutions (a mobile and cloud platform with ready to use last mile apps) to meet the CEO, Mr. Rakesh Tergundi.
Had an excellent opportunity to learn more about their flagship product: Mobijini
Mobijini is a single cross-platform mobile application which can be used by anyone and everyone in a business supply chain. It handles everything from the order collection, shipment tracking, payment collection, stock updates, etc. and ensures that everyone is kept up to date with the latest status of the order.
In addition to this, it can also be integrated with pre-existing order management systems and e-commerce portals. The app has been utilised in various sectors ranging from pharmaceuticals to real estate and logistics to micro-finance.
And back home…
Over three days, I visited three fantastic companies and learn’t not only about their products but also the workings of the companies themselves! Something I never really paid attention to until very recently.
Special thanks to:
Pranav Pai Vernekar (Founder – Inventrom)
Rakesh Patil (R&D Head – Mukunda Foods Pvt. Ltd.)
Rakesh Tergundi (Founder – Mobijini)