SIH26048: iKwath - a pod-based smart Kwatha (Kadha) maker that prepares a fresh, AFI/API-s — SIH 2026 | Wynit

SIH26048: iKwath - a pod-based smart Kwatha (Kadha) maker that prepares a fresh, AFI/API-s — SIH 2026 | Wynit

What they'll ask you

12

Generated from the brief's own wording and the competition's published rules, never from a guess about what this ministry prefers.

Exact sensor types for measuring extract density?
The brief never answers this, so a panel will. Whatever you decide, say it the same way twice.
Mechanical design blueprints for the evaporation and reduction mechanism?
The brief never answers this, so a panel will. Whatever you decide, say it the same way twice.
Material specifications for the pod brew-bag?
The brief never answers this, so a panel will. Whatever you decide, say it the same way twice.

9 morethe ones a panel gets to if there is time

Has any part of this been shown at a previous event, hackathon or college project?
The guidelines are explicit: your solution must not have appeared in any previous event or programme, of any sort. A recycled project is what a team under time pressure reaches for.
The brief asks for pod reader and profile parser. How would you build that?
Decoded from SIH26048 itself: Reads the AFI/API formulation specification encoded on the pod to set water volume and boil profile. The brief asks for it by name.
The brief asks for soaking and boiling controller. How would you build that?
Decoded from SIH26048 itself: Manages water intake, soaking, and controlled heating at mild temperatures between 85 and 90 degrees Celsius. The brief asks for it by name.
The brief asks for reduction and evaporation mechanism. How would you build that?
Decoded from SIH26048 itself: Reduces the liquid volume to one-fourth while maintaining the classical constituent profile and extract density. The brief asks for it by name.
The brief asks for filtration and dispensing unit. How would you build that?
Decoded from SIH26048 itself: Filters the decoction through the pod and dispenses a single warm dose while removing spent powder. The brief asks for it by name.
The brief asks for safety and cleaning system. How would you build that?
Decoded from SIH26048 itself: Provides anti-boil-over protection, dry-run protection, and a rinse cycle for food-grade stainless steel surfaces. The brief asks for it by name.
Why not use what already exists? Name the closest thing to this that is already running.
A team that has not named the alternative themselves is answering this for the first time in the room.
Which single thing will you demonstrate end to end, start to finish, with nothing skipped?
Ours, not a rule: a narrow thing that fully works survives questioning better than a broad thing that half works. If nobody on the team can name it, that is the finding.
Show me this working: the evaluators will test dose consistency, conformance to AFI/API specifications, temperature control accuracy, total cycle time, ease of cleaning, and food-grade safety.
This is the evaluator read for your problem statement, decoded from the brief's own wording.

The government's original description (527 words)

Background: Kwatha (kashaya / kadha) is among the most widely used Ayurvedic dosage forms and is most effective when freshly prepared, yet a fresh decoction must be consumed within a few hours, is laborious to make correctly, and needs a slow reduction step that limits convenience. Consumers therefore depend on concentrated, shelf-stable products that lose potency and are prone to adulteration. Preparing a standardized decoction at home â€” with the correct powder grade, water proportion, gentle heat and reduction defined by the pharmacopoeia â€” is impractical by hand, and no appliance does it for the range of Ayurvedic formulations in use. Description: The system is a compact, pod-based countertop appliance that prepares one fresh dose of Kwatha on demand for any formulation, for use at home or in Ayurvedic clinics. Each single-dose pod contains the standardized coarse powder (yavaku?a c?r?a) of one formulation and serves as the brew-bag, so the decoction stays clear and the spent powder is removed with the pod; a different formulation is handled simply by changing the pod. To prepare a dose, the user adds water and inserts a pod; the appliance soaks the powder, boils it at a controlled mild temperature (~85â€“90 Â°C), reduces the liquid to one-fourth, filters it, and dispenses a single fresh, warm decoction, ready to drink. The water volume, boil profile and dose follow the formulationâ€™s AFI/API specification encoded on the pod, and the appliance monitors weight and extract density so every dose is consistent. Because each dose is brewed only when needed, it is always consumed fresh. A central objective is to shorten the preparation cycle as far as practical while delivering a decoction identical to the classical preparation in both its constituent profile (qualitative) and its extractive yield (quantitative). Each cycle uses about 400 mL of water to yield a single ~100 mL dose, in a boiling chamber of about 1 litre. Pods are single-dose and supplied in course packs. The appliance is designed for easy cleaning: a removable, dishwasher-safe boiling chamber and filter, a disposable spent-powder pod, smooth food-grade stainless-steel contact surfaces, and a rinse cycle. It includes anti-boil-over and dry-run protection and uses potable water meeting the API Jala standard. Expected solution: A deployable, pod-based Kwatha appliance that reads each single-dose podâ€™s formulation profile and automatically prepares a fresh, standardized dose â€” soaking, boiling at controlled mild heat (~85â€“90 Â°C), reducing the liquid to one-fourth, filtering, and dispensing â€” with easy, tool-free cleaning. The solution must minimise the preparation time without altering the final decoction: any acceleration has to be validated to reproduce the classically prepared decoctionâ€™s extract density and constituent profile, holding the AFI/API water proportion and reduction endpoint constant. Acceptable approaches are those that preserve the mild process temperature and the dissolved extractive â€” for example, a larger evaporating surface, gentle removal of surface vapour, continuous stirring or recirculation, or reduced-pressure (lower-temperature) evaporation â€” while methods that could change the phytochemical profile are avoided. Pods of standardized coarse powder (yavaku?a c?r?a) are certifiable against the API/AFI by AIIA/PCIM&H. The solution should be evaluable on dose consistency and conformance to the AFI/API specification, temperature control, cycle time, ease of cleaning, and food-grade safety.