Need statement:

Biotechnologists need to prepare media on Petri plates for culturing of microorganisms or animal cell lines. On average, for the fermentation process, a person needs to prepare 100 plates per day. Automatic Petri plate filling machine loads sterilized media into it. The machine has to move Petri plates to and from the loading site continuously.

1.1 Questions and answers

Sl.no	Questions	Answer	Objective/Constraint/Function
1.	What should be the mode of working of the machine?	Semi-automatic	Objective
2.	Should it be portable?	Yes	Objective
3.	What should be the space within which the machine is to be built?	Within 20 square feet However, some variations in the area can be made.	Constraint
4.	What is your budget for the machine?	Not more than Rs5,000	Constraint
5.	For how much time should the machine work continuously?	For at least 2 hours	Constraint
6.	What media do you use for filling the petri dishes?	MS media	Objective
7.	How many petri plates should the stacking carousels hold?	100	Constraint
8.	What is the size of the petri plate that you use?	100mm X 15mm	Constraint
9.	What is the petri dish capacity?	115mL	Constraint
10.	How many plates should the machine load per minute?	At least 5 plates	Constraint
11.	Should the machine give us indication after capping	Yes	Function

1.2 Observations from a survey

Sl.no	Observations	Requirements
1.	Weight of the machine	The machine should be easily portable
2.	Number of operations	The machine should work fine for at least 10 attempts
3.	Cost	Machine should be built with minimum budget
4.	Number of petri plates to be loaded per minute	At least 5 plates
5.	Materials to be used	Materials used to build, should be non toxic and light weighted

1.3 Identification of the objectives

Sl.no	Objectives
1.	Machine should be Semi-automatic
2.	Machine should be portable
3.	Machine should be effective
4.	Machine should be User-friendly
5.	Machine should load with ensured safety

Problem definition version 1.1:

Design a semi-automatic petri dish loading and filling machine that is user-friendly and works with ensured safety. It should be easily portable and effective.

1.4 Identification of the constraints

Sl.no	Constraints
1.	The machine should be built within 20 square feet of area
2.	The budget is within Rs.8000
3.	It should work continuously for at least 2 hours
4.	Stacking carousels should hold at least 100 petri plates
5.	The size of the plate is 100mm X 15mm
6.	The capacity of the plate is 115mL
7.	The machine should load at least 5 plates per minute

Problem definition version 1.2:

Design a semi-automatic petri dish loading and filling machine that is user-friendly. It should be easily portable and effective. The machine should be built within 20sqft of area within the budget of Rs.8000. It should work continuously for at least 2 hours. Stacking carousels should hold at least 100 petri plates of size 100mm X 15mm and capacity of 115mL.

1.5 Identification of the functions

Sl.no	Functions
1.	Load the petri plates with ensured safety
2.	Indicate after every capping
3.	Indicate on the completion of the process

Problem definition version 1.3:

Design a semi-automatic petri dish loading and filling machine that is user-friendly. It should be portable and effective. The machine should be built within 20sqft of area within the budget of Rs.5000. It should work continuously for at least 2 hours and load at least 5 petri plates per minute. Stacking carousels should hold at least 100 petri plates of size 100mm X 15mm and capacity of 115mL. Once the linear agar kept for filling is over the machine should give an indication to the user.