High-Performance Vacuum
DRO!D is the smallest and best performing consumer vacuum device for the kitchen. A device that redefines a category.
From 60 years of experience in ultra-high vacuum to fight food waste.
Every year 931 million tonnes of food become waste, more than 60% is generated in our home. Vacuum technology is a well-known food preservation system but the offer lacks simple products with the power to guarantee real results. DRO!D was created with the aim of reinventing the consumer vacuum category, starting from the basics: the science of vacuum. Bringing the power of professional machines the size of microwave ovens into an easy-to-use, one-handed device.
The system was developed with an inside-out logic, redesigning all internal components for maximum performance in minimum space.
The project is intended to be the first consumer product mass-produced by SAES for the new B!POD brand. The process generated many engineering and design challenges; all components were redesigned from the inside, starting with the heart of the product: a diaphragm pump capable of reaching 50mbar of pressure in 30 seconds inside a 1.6-liter rigid container. The object encapsulates many aspects of SAES know-how: vacuum systems, gas management, shape memory alloys and materials science.
DRO!D is designed with the goal of “simplifying complexity,” so all structural and reinforcement geometries were integrated into the form. The object is designed like an organism, starting from organs to tissues to its shell. The internal skeleton houses all the primary components. The object has no glues or screws, which often contaminate the recycling process, and it is entirely assembled with an interlocking system capable of withstanding large loads. Vacuum is a delicate process that is influenced by many factors: tightness, power, overheating, weight balance, connection between parts, deformations. Simplifying requires many tests because simulations do not allow all behavior to be analysed.
Advanced materials and minimal design. High performance vacuum technology in the palm of your hand.
DRO!D uses a unique combination of SAES’s technologies, starting from vacuum. The software uses an algorithm to cross-reference the flow with the vacuum level in real time, giving extremely precise feedback on the status of the process and guaranteeing a final pressure of 50 millibars.
Thanks to an ultra-light valve designed and manufactured by SAES and actuated by a nitinol wire thinner than a hair, the device detaches itself from the vacuum container easily at the end of each process. The high vacuum generated by the DRO!D achieves a level of food preservation superior to any consumer device, equalling the performance of machines 10 times larger and up to 20 times heavier. The materials are carefully selected and modified to ensure high performance and maximum simplicity.
Nanometric surface treatments, custom polymer compositions and innovative manufacturing processes stabilise the containers in wider temperature ranges than classic kitchen containers and add total safety in food contact and microwave and refrigerator use. The container lid made of thick Tritan provides mechanical and torsional strength similar to glass but with the flexibility and impact resistance of plastic, and is the only transparent food grade material BPA free.
Journal
B!POD’s Action Against Ocean Plastic Pollution
In 2023, B!POD took a significant step towards sustainability. It ceased the production of containers using traditional polypropylene (PP) and switched entirely to using OBP.
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