Tellus:
the mechanical bulk food dispenser
The increase in poorly managed waste is one of today’s major environmental problems, and the Zero Waste movement has emerged in the
fight against it. This is a lifestyle that aims to reduce the expense of plastics and single-use products by changing daily habits and
looking for reusable substitutes for commonly used products.
To buy food, people who follow this lifestyle try to go to bulk stores, where they use their own packaging. This buying process means
a much more conscious and healthy consumption, as well as a significant reduction in food waste. However, due to health regulations,
these stores must be attended by the shopkeeper, which may cause problems for some customers.
Therefore, with the aim of enabling self-service and speeding up the purchasing process in bulk stores, a mechanical and automated
dispenser has been developed. In this way, customers can move freely around the establishment and select the quantities they want of
each product without having to go to the scale constantly to weigh the food.
The Tellus dispenser has a hexagonal shape to fit as well as possible in the space, a necessary feature in small shops in Madrid. It's
also a modular structure to always adapt to the customer's needs. This way, depending on the food they are going to fill the dispenser
with, they can place only the mechanized container, or add storage containers to increase the capacity of the machine.
Of course, materials and manufacturing processes are designed to be as sustainable as possible, thus adapting to the values of bulk
stores and their final users.
Food drops vertically through the lower openings of the storage modules and is filled from above. Thanks to this layout, there is always
a constant change and the oldest grains do not accumulate at the bottom. In addition, the base module introduces the appropriate ramp and
funnel system to avoid this problem, which is so common in the containers of today's bulk stores.
This dispenser is designed to be used with an app, whose main function will be to write down the amounts selected before being
dispensed, to avoid misunderstandings or having to reweigh the content when paying. This also saves the unnecessary expense of purchase
tickets. It is recommended that the store have purchase cards available that some clients can use during the process and return at the
time of payment, this way the technology of the device does not become a problem for any customer.
Finally, we would like to comment that with this design the bulk sales process becomes much safer and more hygienic. No one has access
to the contents of the container after it has been refilled, the dispenser is properly closed to prevent cross-contamination or spoilage
of food, and all regulatory allergen and additional information are always available to the consumer via bidi codes on the front.
Process and tools
This project was the Master’s Final Thesis (TFM in spanish), so it involved a really extensive and complete research and design process based mainly on the following phases.
Investigation
In addition to secondary research carried out through reading books, articles and European regulations, there was also a primary research conducted and based on observation, interviews and surveys.
Ideation
During the conception phase, many and diverse sketches were elaborated until the final solution was found. The process also included several conceptual models and even a functional electronic prototype made with arduino.
Rendering
Finally, the design was shown through some renders and animations that correctly explain the product, how it works and some possible scenes were it could be integrated.
