The inventors of Vortex and (right) the portable washing machine. Telegraph pictures

Rourkela, Sept. 15: Three students of National Institute of Technology (NIT) in the city have invented a portable washing machine.

The trio — Kirti Sai Shukla, Anurag Mishra and Mrityunjaya Sharma — have sent the model for patenting.

The product has been named as Vortex, which, they claim, is portable, cheap, and can work in any condition with little electricity that can be generated from battery as well. It can fit on top of a standard bucket and can wash up to 3.5kg of clothes, and once the job is done, it can be folded and kept in its custom-built bag.

“This is portable and we target mostly students, bachelors, travellers who go on long trips and those staying in apartments with a space crunch for large machines,” said Anurag. At 80 Watt, the machine consumes very less power and can also be made operational by a battery of even a bike or a car or small inverters, he said.

“This one is a raw product. Once we get the moulds, we will bring out a better-finished product and go for technological enhancement,” said Mrityunjaya.

Director of the institute Sunil Sarangi was appreciative about the invention. He said: “This is a very user-friendly technology. It is very simple and cheap.”

“In hostel, we find it difficult to clean our clothes, especially when the dhobi creates problem. This prompted us to go for the invention,” said Kirti, a final-year electronics and communication engineering student.

The inventors want to produce it in large scale, as they want to become entrepreneurs. “The time is right for us now, and we will do something for the country by becoming entrepreneurs.” said Mrityunjay.

“This is a team work, as different disciplines come together to finally get the prototype,” said Anurag, the metallurgy and materials engineering student, who’s in his pre-final year.

The NIT Rourkela has an Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Development Centre to support and promote entrepreneurship.

The institute’s professors, S.S. Mohapatra and A.K. Swain, are helping the students in technicalities and Rajeev Panda is the marketing guide. Panda said: “I am planning to launch them in some of the marketing channels and also on the online portals, as this will expose them to a larger and targeted audience.”