ASTRA OLE - Group 8

Q1. Identify the factors that were taken into account in the design of Astra Ole, and relate these
towards design, the manner in which they influence decisions on its design.

Factors Design

Smokeless There was a chimney designed for the easy

escape of smoke

Low Fuel Requirement, increased efficiency Shielded Combustion chamber, primary and
secondary vents for complete combustion

Shouldn’t change the Food Habits A similar 3 Pan model was taken into
account when designing the product

Shape and Size should be similar to the The size of the pan was taken into account
traditional stove and bricks were used in place of mud to
accommodate different sizes

Should be able to use materials available The design used the materials available
locally locally to ensure that the construction was
not difficult

Fuel Requirement The ASTRA OLE used similar fuel

(Branches, twigs, husk etc.) to the traditional
stove

Cheap and Easy to Construct Fabrication and design was done taking into
consideration the overall material availability
and suitability to the locality

Q2. What method was used to understand the requirements of users of wood stove?

The behavioral studies were done to understand the requirements of the users. The surveys
and observational experiments were used to better understand and link the requirements with
the design specifications. The end users were kept in the loop to ensure that the design of the
wood stove was user friendly and did not change the food habits significantly. The similar 3-pan
model was taken into consideration to ensure the same.

Q3. How to disseminate Astra Ole?

The dissemination of Astra Ole, a smokeless stove could be done with a collaboration of the
state/central government and the various agencies.
A number of agents could be trained for construction, usage and other factors in each district
which would be divided into various subdivisions of that district. They could further train agents
for various villages, and the one agent at each village could be used to disseminate the Astra
Ole.

The block development officers and the panchayats could be used as models for the Astra Ole
to influence the villagers into adopting the Astra Ole
The government could also use its various schemes to incentivize the villagers such as:
1) The people working in MNREGA could be provided with Astra Ole with subsidies
2) Subsidies could be provided for people below the poverty line or people falling under the
SC/ST lists

The cooking programs could be launched for the villagers to train them on how to use the Astra
Ole stove to cook their regional recipes. This would ensure the stoves are not fence sitters and
have higher adoption rates.
Regular TV/radio/other ads should be played out on how to use the astra ole stoves.