Rotimatic

Key takeaways

Rotimatic belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Rotimatic to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Rotimatic from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Rotimatic is an automated kitchen appliance that makes flatbread. It was invented by Indian-origin couple Pranoti Nagarkar and Rishi Israni in 2008. It was initially planned to be launched in 2012 but started taking US pre-orders in 2014 with an initial deposit for $59 towards the initial price of $699. It was first shipped in 2016, and is currently available in twenty markets. As of May 2018 it had sold 10,000 units and as of October 2018 it has generated a revenue of US$40 million. Across all its units it had made 3 million rotis by July 2017 and 10 million rotis by January 2018.

History Pranoti Nagarkar and Rishi Israni established their company ZImplistic Pte Ltd,. in Singapore with Rotimatic as their flagship product. The pre-order campaign started in 2014 and the product was delivered in 2016 and 2017 in Singapore and the United States respectively. As of April 2018, it is available in a total of 20 markets including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Arab Emirates. As of October 2020, Zimplistic, has been acquired by Light Ray Holdings, a special-purpose vehicle incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. As of April 2021, more than 70,000 Rotimatics have been sold across 20 countries (45,000 units in the U.S.)

Inventor/Founder Rotimatic was invented by Indian-born Pranoti Nagarkar and Rishi Israni. Nagarkar is a mechanical engineer and Israni studied computer science. They are the Co-Founder of Zimplistic Pte Ltd., which was incorporated in Singapore in 2008. Rotimatic is the flagship product of their company. They are both alumni of National University of Singapore. They have more than 35 patents under their belt.

Investment By April 2018, Zimplistic, had raised around US$45 million through four rounds of venture funding. According to Zimplistic, Rotimatic generated a revenue of US$40 million in the fiscal year 2017-2018 by selling nearly 40,000 machines, with pre-order sales generating US$5 million.

Concept and design To make roti (or other types of flatbread such as tortillas and puris), the user adds portions of flour, water, oil, and any additional ingredients into designated compartments to top up pre stored containers if needed. After selecting the thickness, softness, and 1 or 2 drops of oil, the user presses a button, and the machine then makes dough, flattens it, and cooks the roti in 90 seconds. Rotimatic can bake around 20 rotis starting from full compartments. Rotimatic uses machine learning so each machine takes some time to make good bread; they are also connected to the internet for software upgrades. It takes about a minute to make one roti after the machine has been fully heated up which takes more than five minutes. It uses around 1800 watts of power, weighs around 18 kilograms, measures 16 by 16 inches, has 15 sensors, 10 motors, and 300 parts. The worldwide retail price of Rotimatic as of April 2018 is US$999; a high end bread machine cost around $170 at that time. Rotimatic is manufactured in Malaysia. The Rotimatic has undergone three design revisions:

2012 - Original design 2018 - The flour container was redesigned to widen the bottom opening to prevent clogging of the flour from steam backdrafts 2023 - Rotimatic Plus was launched at a price of $1,699. The key difference is a rubber belt drive replacing the metallic chain which reduces the operating noise while flattening and cooking the rotis. With the launch of the Plus model, the original model was discontinued in 2024. Around 2019 there were reports of Rotimatic launching a slimmed down smaller version targeted towards price sensitive markets like India for under ₹40,000.

Reception Mashable called Rotimatic the first robotic roti maker. It further added that Zimplistic claims that one Rotimatic roti costs roughly five cents. A store-bought roti would cost around 40 to 50 cents. Engadget referenced it as "the world's most expensive flatbread maker". Customers have expressed mixed reactions with many loving it while others have trouble with reliability, consistency and expensive repairs leading to a used secondary market for these devices. There has been concern that the Rotimatic only supports the legacy 2.4Ghz 802.11b standard making WiFi connectivity problematic for many users.

Pricing

Awards and recognition Best Kitchen Gadget by CES in 2016 Best Consumer IoT Solution at 2020 IoT World Awards Open category winner at Start-Up@Singapore 2009

See also Convenience cooking Domestic robot List of home appliances Instant Pot Moley Robotics MK1

References

External links Official website

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Rotimatic

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Rotimatic claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Rotimatic before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Rotimatic ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Rotimatic

In research: Rotimatic appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Rotimatic in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Rotimatic is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Consumer electronics, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Rotimatic outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Rotimatic in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Rotimatic means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Rotimatic out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Rotimatic in simple terms?

Rotimatic is an automated kitchen appliance that makes flatbread. It was invented by Indian-origin couple Pranoti Nagarkar and Rishi Israni in 2008.

Why does Rotimatic matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Rotimatic?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Rotimatic.