The document outlines a project by 4 industrial design students from Delft University of Technology to develop a low-cost windmill for farmers in India, with the goals of replacing diesel pumps, creating local jobs, and providing a sustainable solution; it discusses conducting research and development in the Netherlands and India over 5 months to understand user needs and technical, usage, and commercial concerns before developing concepts and testing a prototype.

1. DEVELOPING A WINDMILL
FOUR D WITH & FOR
FOUR DESIGN STUDENTS
IN SEARCH OF SUPPORT
DELFT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
FARMERS IN INDIA

2. THE
INTRODUCTION making agriculture a difficult job to
This project is about designing a low budget do. A solution to this issue is finding
windmill for farmers in India. Our team is an underground water and pump it to the
PROJECT international and multidisciplinary design
team, consisting of four TU Delft students
studying Industrial Design Engineering (IDE).
surface in order to use for it for irrigation.
In most rural areas there is no power
grid, so some pumps run on diesel, in
The strength of Industrial Design is that we other cases water is pumped by hand,
have strong practical design skills, a broad which requires a great deal of human
technological grounding and extensive effort and drudgery. Having this solution,
knowledge of innovation processes. We people found water pumping could also
will combine these strengths and work be used for salt mining.
closely together with the local inventors and
entrepreneurs. In this way we will come up A salt-water mixture is pumped
“This solution came from with a windmill that is especially designed from underground into ponds, water
their own need to pump for the Indian farmer. The windmill will be evaporates and salt gets harvested.
water in their fields..” locally produced therefore creating jobs and India is the third largest salt producing
the windmill will be easier to repair. country in the world. The state of Gujarat
By applying this sustainable technology we contributes almost 70% of the total salt
are aiming to replace the polluting diesel mining, with an estimated number of
generators that are currently used. 54,000 salt mines. When using diesel-
With this booklet we hope to provide you powered pumps, in order to produce
with information about the project, our study 1000 tons of salt, the total expenditure
‘Industrial Design Engineering’ and the is Rs.1000.000 (€1.600), out of which
team. Furthermore, we request your support Rs.60.000 (€950) are spent on fuel.
to make this innnovative project happen. Economic conditions of farmers are very
harsh, making their buying capacity very
CONTEXT low; this fact is exploited by salt traders,
FOUR D Weather conditions in India are characterized
by long dry periods, added to the fact
who give the farmers advances for their
recurring expenses and then enter a
FOUR DESIGN STUDENTS
IN SEARCH OF A PROJECT surface water supply are very scarce, buyback agreement at a very cheap
DELFT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

3. THE HUSSAIN BROTHERS WITH THEIR FIRST PROTOTYPE

4. rate. The supply chain generated in this around the world; so thousands of different • Searching different utilities to use the
business model makes that middle men windmills can be found. This grassroots generated wind energy.
(traders, transporters and retailers), take windmill proposal highlights itself by the
most of the profit, being the farmer the low cost, production requirements and Commercial concerns
most disadvantaged. efficiency, solving the end user needs. The • Developing ways to make the
windmill more commercially viable.
innovation proposed by the Hussain brothers
• Creating a technical feasible product.
Mohammad Mehtar Hussain (32) and his triggered us towards the understanding of
• Make a fair supply chain, in which
younger brother, Mushtaq (28) came with the grassroots innovations, and how they
farmers receive a fair share of the
a solution to pump water, a low-cost, solve problems with local resources, in a profit.
and relatively easy to build windmill. This cost-effective and sustainable way.
solution came from their own need to PROJECT PHASES AND PLANNING
pump water in their fields for the winter The problem exists out of multiple issues Our project will last five months and is
crops. It was a basic windmill made of which are stated below. During our project divided in to five different phases. All
bamboo and tin sheets. After three years we would like to address these issues and phases are described below with the
of optimizing the windmill, it has turned out use this to create a new value proposition for activities for each specialization within the
to be a mature product with a large scale the windmill of the Hussain brothers. team. The figure on the next page shows
testing around Gujarat (20 prototypes). A an overview how these phases are divided
windmill has become a better solution for Technical issues
over time and the period we expect to
salt mining than for field irrigation, due to • Developing the windmill in a way that it
work in India.
the fact that Gujarat is one of the main salt can be used in different geographical
mining states and the strong winds found situations.
• Making the windmill adaptable to Phase I - Analysis
in this area. Starting point will be the analysis of the
overcome local site constraints.
windmill to be able to build further on the
PROJECT GOALS current available knowledge. Preparations
Usage issues
Because the windmill was conceived
• How to install/use the windmill will be made for our stay in India.
as a bottom up solution, it is affordable • How to repair the windmill
to local markets and construction Strategy - Research of current
possibilities. Windmills have existed since New value propositions market developments, current market
the first century, and have been adapted • Finding different functions for the opportunities and threats. Important is to
to different scenarios and conditions windmill principle. make an overview of the stakeholders of

5. Ideation and finding opportunities &
value
Testing ideas and conceptualiza- Finalizing and documenta-
Analysis current design Testing concepts
tion tion
Period in India
SEP OKT NOV DEC JAN
PROJECT PLANNING
different markets and to make estimations to map the several value chains within the overall view of the market should ensure
of market size/potential. different markets. future success. A start will be made on
Context - Analysis of Indian context, Context - Development of tools and methods marketing and implementation plans.
gaining understanding in user needs. which can be used to gain input from Indian Context - All concepts will be tested to
Realization - Focus on current technical context. Potential ideas will be tested locally find out preference among our final target
solution and the practical issues involved. to gain feedback from its end users. group. Field research will also indicate
Realization - Searching for alternative which areas require more research and
Phase II - Ideation possible utilities which can be used in detailing.
Ideation takes place partly in The combination with wind energy. Solutions will Realization - Concepts will be tested
Netherlands and partly in India. In this way, be tested to see its functionality at different practically to find the best solutions.
input and value can be searched for in two geographical environments and sites. Possible technical drawings, presentation
ways. First of all, by finding interesting drawings and simple prototypes will used
opportunities from a western and TU Delft Phase III - Conceptualization to explain each concept.
perspective. Second, by searching for After testing the input from both a TU Delft
opportunities in the Indian market. Finally, as a Indian perspective, concepts will be Phase IV - Testing
these different inputs can be tested locally developed and tested. Criteria from Gian will A final concept will be chosen and tested
to generate the right outputs. be taken into consideration while developing at the local market. Depending on the
Strategy - Opportunities will be searched the final concepts to create maximum value results, a prototype or working principle
for in alternative utilities for the windmill. for the organization. will be used.
New ideas in business models will be
generated and new value will be searched Strategy - For each concept, detailed
for within the value chain. Important is business models will be generated. An

7. Strategy - Market potential will be used to show and convince its value. KEY PLAYERS IN PROJECT
estimated and marketing/implementation Commissioner: GIAN (www.gian.org)
plans will be developed. These can be EXPECTED OUTCOME GIAN is a technology business incubator.
tested locally to find out the potential of As Industrial Design students from They are helping unaided, unqualified,
success. Delft University of Technology we are untrained individual innovator from the
Context - The final concepts will be tested specially trained in user centered design. informal sector who has conceptualized/
and user insights will be used to develop Understanding people’s needs and developed technological innovation and/
ways to convey its use to the final users. interaction with the material world is a or outstanding traditional knowledge
Realization - By making prototypes of basic starting point for successful product practices. Gian is part of the Honey Bee
working principles, different tests can be innovation. Together with the knowledge network and based in Ahmedabad, India.
performed on sight and at the TU Delft. about windmills brought from Delft Mahesh Patel is the Chief Innovator
University of Technology this will lead to a Manager of GIAN. Mister Patel offered his
Phase V - Finalization sustainable, convenient and commercially support and help during our stay in India
The last month results will be transformed sellable design. To ensure a sustainable and will be our direct contact.
into presentations and reports. These will contribution to the stakeholders the design
be made in an appealing and convincing proposal is delivered together with a Investor: Alstom Foundation
way, for as well the TU Delft as for our business model. Extra attention is is given Alstom is a world leader in transport
Indian partners. to the implementation plan, since we want infrastructure, power generation and
to make a product that is successful on transmission. The foundation financially
Strategy - Business models, marketing/ the long run. All the knowledge gathered supports project that have to do with
implementation plan and others will during the five months lasting project will be power generation or infrastructure. They
be made in a understandable graphs documented and presented in a report. The have chosen to support this windmill
which can be used to convince possible report includes insights of the user, context project by funding the manufacturing of
investors. Also market figures will be used specific requirements, working principle, the first series.
to make financial estimations. design iterations, production plan and test
Context - All user insights have to results. As a final outcome of the project Dr. Vikram Parmar
processed in a way that they can convince a prototype will be made to show the core Associate Professor & Joint Director,
and persuade. Manuals or other ways to of the design. Most probably the prototype VentureStudio- Center for Innovative
explain the use can be made to explain our shows the working principle of the proposed Business Design, Ahmedabad University,
concept locally. design.
India, Assistant professor TUDelft
Realization - Possible working principles
will be presented in prototypes and
design/technical drawings. These can be

8. INDUSTRIAL Industrial design engineers (ID engineers)
educated at Delft University of Technology
being refers to an experiential state of
people and organisations, which can
DESIGN
are engineers trained to work in product have many shapes, such as satisfaction,
development. IDE is a multidisciplinary fulfilment, support, inspiration,
study, ID engineers learn learn about every protection, acknowledgment, comfort,
ENGINEERING aspect of product design. We have strong
practical design skills, a broad technological
happiness, and involvement. The terms
of this well-being is not unconditional; it
grounding and extensive knowledge of must be sustainable. Its realisation must
innovation processes. At the Faculty of consider the interests of ‘others’, i.e.
Industrial Design Engineering, we actually culture, other people and organisations.
“Fostering sustainable devise, study and improve products. This is This sustainability may take the form
well-being by exploring, done based upon the wishes and needs of of (material) durability, sustained use,
generating and users, the business community and society or prolonged affective or aesthetic life
transferring knowledge and as a whole. span; or it will take the form of social or
technologies for industrial cultural responsibility.
design.” Industrial design engineering at Delft
University of Technology is the largest
university-based design course in the world.
Since it was founded in 1965, more than
3000 designers have graduated in IDE. Delft
is also a pioneer in educational innovation
and a source of important research in
the field of industrial design engineering.
Following the mission of the Faculty of IDE,
the overall research objective has been
defined as follows: Fostering sustainable
well-being by exploring, generating and
FOUR D transferring knowledge and technologies
for industrial design. The key element of
FOUR DESIGN STUDENTS
IN SEARCH OF A PROJECT this goal is ‘sustainable well-being’. Well-
DELFT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

9. INDUSTRIAL DESIGN ENGINEERING TUDELFT

10. THE
Our team exists of four TU Delft students, di- have already worked in practice, some
vided over three different master directions. studied at art school and some have al-
The team is international, including three ready worked within the BOP. Also, all
TEAM Dutch and one Colombian student.
TEAM VISION
The Base of the Pyramid is a context that
members of our team have a passion
for traveling. This is an important driver
for us to do this project abroad. Finally,
attention was paid for sustainability
offers many challenges like limited resourc-
through out our whole education.
es, efficiency and sustainability, but at the
same time it offers a lot of opportunities to
make a change by a small difference. For
us, this project is an unique opportunity to
apply the things we learned in this exciting
context. It allows us to not only stimulate
“Our vision is to apply our business, but also help a society which is
knowledge in order to create eager to develop.
meaningful products for the Our vision is to apply our knowledge in order
base of the pyramid.” create meaningful products for the base of
the pyramid.
All four of us are extremely enthusiastic
about this challenge, and we hope to share
this enthusiasm with you.
TEAM EXPERIENCE
As team we have experience working to-
gether. This allows us to work more effi-
cient and effectively. It also resulted in an
FOUR D enthusiastic group of people who share the
same passions and interests. Our team has
FOUR DESIGN STUDENTS experience in many different sectors. Some
IN SEARCH OF A PROJECT
DELFT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

11. BUDGET
We estimated the total costs of the project
for the four of us, during 2,5 months stay in
India incluiding flight tickets will be around
€10.000,-. We’re trying to get € 7000,-
sponsored by companies, funds en gifts. In
the case we succeed to get more than this
amount we will donate the money to GIAN.
In this way we hope more grassroots can be
realized.
Budget overview:
Income:
Funds 1000,-
Companies 2200,-
Gifts 500,-
Alstom Foundation 3000,-
Own input 3600,-
----------------------------------------
Total 10300,-
Expenses:
Prototyping 3000,- Visa 500,-
Translator 400,- Rent housing 1000,-
Printing 200,- Flight tickets 3000,-
FOUR D Field research
Telephone
100,-
50,-
Local transport 500,-
Daily expenses (2,5 months) 1500.-
FOUR DESIGN STUDENTS ----------------------------------------
IN SEARCH OF A PROJECT Internet 50,-
DELFT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Total 10300,-

12. FOUR D
FOUR DESIGN STUDENTS
IN SEARCH OF A PROJECT
DELFT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
EMMA JUAN DAVID
HAAGEN MARTIN
CONTACT
fourd.jmp@gmail.com
CASPER +31 (0) 653382158 NICK
VD MEER VD VELDE