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How can we improve liquid laundry detergent dosing and dispensing?
Challenge Type: engineering
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$1,600
top 50%
172
submissions
DONE
60 months ago

When most people wash their clothes, they reach for a bottle of liquid laundry detergent. More than 2 billion bottles of liquid detergent were purchased in 2016. Three big issues tend to frustrate users of liquid detergent: inconvenience, having to guess the right amount of detergent to use, and messiness.

We’ve fixed convenience by concentrating the laundry detergent to make it much lighter. We want your help improving the way we measure the correct amount of detergent (dosing) and get it into the laundry machine (dispensing). Today's consumer can choose between a pour spout and a push-button spigot. Both can be messy, heavy, and awkward. Your job is to come up with an idea that makes getting the right amount of liquid detergent into the wash precise, effortless and maybe even enjoyable.

For this challenge, focus on innovating the ultra-concentrated bottle, similar to this. We will want to give users the ability to select from 10-20ml of liquid depending on the size and dirtiness of the load. Your goal is to make it a "no tilt" bottle, meaning the user does not need to tilt it to pour it. Some potential approaches include a squeeze chamber (see here), but you are not limited to that design. Make it easy for the user to use and simple to manufacture.

Deliverables

Tell us how to improve dosing and dispensing for liquid laundry detergent. Specifically, answer the following questions in detail:

  1. Design a dispenser that addresses the problems, discussed above, inherent in spout and spigot dispensers. Describe the design in detail. 
  2. Include at least one visual illustrating your design. The more detailed, the better.
  3. How does the consumer accurately dose the detergent?
  4. How does the consumer cleanly dispense the detergent?
  5. How do you envision the internal mechanism of the dispenser?

Top submissions will keep things simple and affordable for consumers. We don't want ideas that incorporate AI or apps. We don't want ideas that require the consumer to make separate purchases, meaning everything must be self-contained in the standard bottle detergent. 

NOTE: If you attach your submission as a PDF, PPT, Word Doc, or other file type, you must still paste your answer text into the body of the submission window. Failure to do so will result in a lower score.

NOTE: Answers must be submitted in English.

    Submissions will be graded on the following criteria:
  • Meets Deliverables
  • Quality of Visual
  • Clarity
Reward Tiers
Top 10%
will share $1,000
Next 15%
will share $400
Next 25%
will share $200
Actual individual rewards will be based on the total number of eligible solutions.
Leaderboard
$55.60 Christopher Adjei-Frimpong University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa
$55.60 Kiersten Wilde University of Michigan
$55.60 Avijit Majumder Manipal University
$55.60 Jamila Abdul Maroof
$55.60 Daniel Gurung Delhi University
$55.60 Priyansh Jain KTH Royal Institute of Technology
$55.60 Joey Latimore University of Houston-Downtown
$55.60 Nathaniel Mensah Adoko University of Mines and Technology, Ghana
$55.60 Oscar Wong University of Illinois
$55.60 Pooja A Pune
$55.60 Karen Miller West Virginia University
$55.60 Edwin Okero Egerton university.
$55.60 Ajay Sharma JAMK University of Applied Science,Finland
$55.60 Matthew Gaiser Queen's University
$55.60 Forest sage San Francisco State University
$55.60 tracy roberts Stevens Institute of Technology
$55.60 Gerald Okafor University of Manchester
$55.60 McCartney K University of California at Berkeley
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$16.00 Francis Daniel Santia Harvard University
$16.00 Sharicia Mason Jacobs University Bremen
$16.00 Samantha Thompson Brock University
$16.00 Joseph Alison Massey University
$16.00 Christina Cross Penn Foster
$16.00 Sumana Mahata UCSD
$16.00 Carlo Gonzalez Kansas State University
$16.00 Moe Htet Kyaw Swarthmore College
$16.00 Hunter Dowdy
$16.00 Prathamesh Mayekar Symbiosis International University
$16.00 Gideon Imoesemi The Federal University of Technology, Akure
$16.00 Daniel Forero Universidad Sergio Arboleda - Bogota
$16.00 Dyllan Hancott Yorkville University
$16.00 risper eddy Eastern Michigan University
$16.00 Gillian Elizabeth University of Calgary
$16.00 Jennifer Peacock Auburn University of Montgomery
$16.00 Clay MacTarnaghan Southwestern Assembly of God University
$16.00 Joshua Y. Ansong UMaT
$16.00 Sandy Bennett Open University, UK
$16.00 RIA BHATIA MALINI KISHOR SANGHVI COLLEGE
$16.00 alice bekker University of Phoenix
$16.00 Philis John
$16.00 AMAL VS APJ Abdul kalam Technological University
$4.70 Mariah Young Penn Foster
$4.70 Shawn Hillier College of the Holy Cross
$4.70 Sarina McCarthy University of Manchester
$4.70 Michele Arpino Italy
$4.70 ezeokeke emma California University of Pennsylvania
$4.70 Ellen Wright University of Central Florida
$4.70 Isaac Barnett Ofori University of Mines and Technology, Ghana
$4.70 Rachel Kehl University of Waterloo
$4.70 Vanessa Penate Miami Dade College
$4.70 Adriana Palomo Universidad Rafael Landivar
$4.70 Efrain Cruz University of British Columbia
$4.70 Sanchayata Nayal Shivaji University Kohlapur
$4.70 Titas Paul Lovely Professional University
$4.70 Olivia Lewis University of Virginia
$4.70 Timothy Wray metro community college
$4.70 B W Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College
$4.70 Lauren McCann University of Central Florida
$4.70 Christian Guest Lancaster University
$4.70 Daniela O. University of California, Irvine
$4.70 Michael Grabinski Western Governors University
$4.70 Iqra Amir Heinrich Heine University
$4.70 Shantel Michelle Havard University
$4.70 Violetta Trinich Santa Fe High School
$4.70 George Kiprono Tonuy JKUAT
$4.70 Brian Wynder Ursinus College
$4.70 J C University of Alberta
$4.70 Logan Carter Penn Foster
$4.70 Sarah B Bennington College
$4.70 Christina Johnson Abilene Christian University
$4.70 Jaylyn Whitehead University of Central Florida
$4.70 Nicholas DiCioccio University of Central Florida
$4.70 Unknown Solver
$4.70 Jason Dudko Urban
$4.70 Priya Shah University of Queensland
$4.70 Alexander Cross Grantham College
$4.70 Aveek Choudhury Indian Institute of Management-Indore
$4.70 Gal Poraz The open univerisity
$4.70 Stephanie Lazcano University of California, Riverside
$4.70 Ankush Gupta Boston University
$4.70 Edos obasogie landmark university
$4.70 Allison McLaughlin University of Central Florida
$4.70 Jemimah Raphael University of California, Los Angeles
$4.70 Tylen Earl Utah Valley University
Submission questions


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What country do you live in?

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What are your biggest pain points with liquid laundry detergent?

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