Hardik. Industrial Designer
All work

Project No. 01 — Transit hardware

Invisible QR

Integrated, intelligent, invisible.

In market Ridlr Mumbai Metro One 2016 — 2017 Role — Design Consultant | Project Owner
Invisible QR — Integrated, intelligent, invisible.
Invisible QR. Ridlr × Mumbai Metro One, 2016 — 2017.

A QR ticketing front end retrofitted into the automatic fare collection gates already running at Mumbai Metro. The scanner had to disappear into hardware that was never designed to carry it — no new gate, no visible bolt-on, no retraining for commuters.

Outcome. QR ticketing at Mumbai Metro launched on 16 November 2017 — a milestone for Ridlr, Mumbai Metro One and the city, and a personal one from sketching through to execution and maintenance.

Approach

5 stages
01

Hardware study

AFC gates, QR scanner and packaging assessed on site.

02

Integration

Material study and the modifications the gate would need.

03

Testing

Mock-ups, sourcing and a vendor hunt for job work.

04

Installation

Installation guide and vendor management to hold timelines.

05

Maintenance

A maintenance guide written for the on-ground operations team.

Gallery

7 figures
Fig. 01. First iteration — scanner and controller housing explored against three shortlisted components.
Fig. 02. Second iteration — cased scanner narrowed to two items, with quick foam mock-ups for lab ergonomics tests.
Fig. 03. Foam mock-ups handled at the gate to check reach, angle and hand position before any metal was cut.
Fig. 04. Fabrication route: water jet cutting and bolt-head-to-plate weld, tested on the real gate panels.
Fig. 05. One vacuum-cast prototype built to fit multiple scanner options for plug and play — sheet metal clamps, LED strip holder, acrylic sheet for controller invisibility.
Fig. 06. The finished gate in service. The scanner reads as original equipment.
Fig. 07. A commuter scanning at the gate — the interaction the whole project was built around.

QR ticketing at Mumbai Metro launched on 16 November 2017 — a milestone for Ridlr, Mumbai Metro One and the city, and a personal one from sketching through to execution and maintenance.