Comet
QR code based table-top vending machine
Industrial Design
Vending machine, Product optimization and operations, Working with constraints, Materials and manufacturing
Internship Project at Wendor, 2025
Duration: 2.5 months
Tools: SolidWorks, Rhino, Key Shot, Sketching
Brief: To optimize the existing table top vending machine for QR code based vending operations as opposed to its screen based counterparts, alongside considering the dimensions, use cases and CMF with budget constraints.
About the project:
Done as part of my internship at Wendor, Comet is a Table top vending machine for office spaces. Working with various teams and stakeholders to bring the idea to life, I learned immensely during this internship.
Comet is a mini vending machine which is assembled in house at Wendor, with the screenless version being designed by me. This is the first iteration of the machine which uses a QR code to initiate vending operations.
My role was to coordinate with various stakeholders to bring this idea to life. I worked with various vendors, in house teams like electronics engineering and assembly operations as well as product managers to ensure that the prototype gets made. I gave valuable inputs as a designer, made quick iterations in CAD and ideated through sketches. During this internship, I learned more about management and communication than just design.
The new machine
The old machine
Apart from size reduction, I also optimized the MS sheet thickness to be around 1.2 mm instead of 1 mm which was causing problems with welding spots and flimsy built. A possibility of using aluminium trays to reduce the weight of the machine, improved hinges etc. was suggested but not implemented by the team. I also introduced riveting as a substitute to welding, especially where seamless finishing wasn't required (back panels and bottom) that led to a warp in the thin sheet.
The new prototype had its own set of issues, but the team was adamant on using their old ways, without the help of an engineer and refraining me from optimizing it further, accounting for one of the reasons why I quit.
