A control method and apparatus for a microwave oven

Abstract

This invention discloses a control method and apparatus for a microwave oven, comprising: responding to a user activating microwave heating, activating the microwave oven's in-oven camera and acquiring an in-oven image; identifying food items in the in-oven image to obtain the location of the food items and the types of food items at each location; activating the microwave oven's thermal imaging camera and acquiring real-time thermal imaging images of the in-oven area; locating the food items in the thermal imaging image based on their location in the in-oven area and acquiring the surface temperature of the food items at each location to determine the cold and hot spots of each food item; and controlling the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blades based on the cold and hot spots of each food item to achieve simultaneous heating of different types of food items. This invention solves the technical problems of low accuracy in temperature control and low cooking efficiency in the prior art when cooking multiple food items.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of microwave oven technology, and in particular to a control method and apparatus for a microwave oven. Background Technology

[0002] A microwave oven is a modern cooking appliance that heats food using microwaves. With the development of intelligent technology in the home appliance industry, microwave ovens are also gradually undergoing intelligent transformation, making them more convenient to use in people's daily lives.

[0003] Currently available microwave ovens can only heat specific single ingredients. However, when heating multiple dishes, heating each ingredient sequentially can lead to excessively long cooking times and low cooking efficiency. If multiple ingredients are heated simultaneously, the different heating temperatures required by the ingredients can result in some ingredients being heated too low, resulting in undercooked food, or others being heated too high, resulting in overcooked food and affecting the taste.

[0004] Therefore, there is an urgent need for a control method that can enable microwave ovens to accurately control the cooking temperature of multiple ingredients and improve cooking efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This invention provides a control method and apparatus for a microwave oven to solve the technical problems of low accuracy in temperature control and low cooking efficiency when cooking multiple ingredients in the prior art.

[0006] To address the aforementioned technical problems, embodiments of the present invention provide a method for controlling a microwave oven, comprising:

[0007] In response to the user turning on microwave heating, the microwave oven's in-oven camera is invoked to acquire images of the oven interior;

[0008] Food ingredients are identified from the images inside the oven to determine the location of the ingredients inside the oven and the types of ingredients at each location.

[0009] The microwave oven's thermal imaging camera is invoked to acquire real-time thermal images of the oven's interior.

[0010] Based on the location of the food in the oven, the food in the thermal imaging image is located, and the surface temperature of the food at each location in the oven is obtained, thereby determining the cold and hot spots of each food.

[0011] Based on the cold and hot points of each ingredient, the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blades are controlled so that the microwave stirring blades block the microwaves emitted to the hot points of the ingredients and allow the microwaves to reach the cold points of the ingredients, thereby achieving simultaneous heating of various types of ingredients.

[0012] As a preferred embodiment, the step of obtaining the surface temperature of the food at each location inside the oven to determine the cold and hot spots of each food item specifically involves:

[0013] Based on the preset food cooking temperature chart, the target temperature of the food at each location in the oven is determined by identifying the type of food in that location.

[0014] Based on the thermal imaging images, the surface temperature of the food at each location inside the oven is obtained sequentially.

[0015] If the surface temperature of the food at the current location in the oven is greater than the target temperature of the food, mark the food at that location in the oven as a hot spot;

[0016] If the surface temperature of the food at the current location in the oven is lower than the target temperature of the food, mark the food at that location in the oven as a cold spot.

[0017] As a preferred embodiment, the step of controlling the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blades according to the cold and hot points of each ingredient specifically involves:

[0018] Based on the cold spots of the food at each location in the oven, the total amount of microwave radiation required for the surface temperature of each food to reach the hot spot is calculated.

[0019] Based on the total amount of microwave radiation required for heating each ingredient, the time for the microwave stirring blade to block microwaves at each position in the oven is calculated. Then, the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade are calculated so that the ingredients at each position in the oven can be heated simultaneously.

[0020] As a preferred embodiment, after controlling the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade according to the cold and hot points of each ingredient, the method further includes:

[0021] Based on real-time thermal imaging images, determine whether the surface temperature of the food at each location in the furnace has reached the temperature marked as a hot spot.

[0022] If so, the ingredients are cooked and heating should be stopped.

[0023] If not, the thermal imaging image inside the microwave oven is reacquired, and the surface temperature of the food at each location inside the oven is reacquired to redetermine the cold and hot spots of each food item. Then, the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade are recontrolled until the food at each location inside the oven reaches the hot spot simultaneously.

[0024] As a preferred embodiment, after reacquiring the thermal imaging image inside the microwave oven, the method further includes:

[0025] Based on the reacquired thermal imaging images inside the microwave oven, the system identifies the food located at the hot spot and issues an alarm, prompting the user to remove the cooked food so that it can be reheated in the microwave.

[0026] As a preferred embodiment, the step of identifying food ingredients from the oven image to obtain the location of the food ingredients inside the oven and the types of food ingredients at each location inside the oven specifically involves:

[0027] Based on the preset food ingredient recognition algorithm model, the food ingredients in the oven image are located to obtain the oven location of the food ingredients, and the types of food ingredients corresponding to the oven locations in the oven image are identified to obtain the oven location of the food ingredients and the types of food ingredients at each oven location.

[0028] As a preferred embodiment, the step of locating the food in the thermal imaging image based on its position within the oven specifically involves:

[0029] Based on the image of the inside of the oven after food identification, the coordinates of the location of the food inside the oven are calculated;

[0030] The furnace image and the thermal imaging image are overlapped in terms of features so that the coordinates of the location of the food inside the furnace are mapped onto the thermal imaging image, thereby enabling the food to be located in the thermal imaging image.

[0031] Accordingly, the present invention also provides a control device for a microwave oven, comprising: an in-oven image acquisition module, a food identification module, a thermal imaging image acquisition module, a hot and cold spot acquisition module, and a control module;

[0032] The oven image acquisition module is used to respond to the user turning on microwave heating by calling the oven camera of the microwave oven and acquiring the oven image.

[0033] The food ingredient recognition module is used to identify food ingredients in the oven image to obtain the location of the food ingredients in the oven and the types of food ingredients at each location in the oven.

[0034] The thermal imaging image acquisition module is used to call the thermal imaging camera of the microwave oven and acquire thermal imaging images inside the oven in real time.

[0035] The hot and cold spot acquisition module is used to locate the food in the thermal imaging image according to the location of the food in the oven, and to acquire the surface temperature of the food at each location in the oven, thereby determining the cold and hot spots of each food.

[0036] The control module is used to control the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade according to the cold and hot points of each food ingredient, so that the microwave stirring blade blocks the microwaves emitted to the hot points of the food ingredient and allows the microwaves to reach the cold points of the food ingredient, thereby achieving simultaneous heating of different types of food ingredients.

[0037] As a preferred embodiment, the step of obtaining the surface temperature of the food at each location inside the oven to determine the cold and hot spots of each food item specifically involves:

[0038] Based on the preset food cooking temperature chart, the target temperature of the food at each location in the oven is determined by identifying the type of food in that location.

[0039] Based on the thermal imaging images, the surface temperature of the food at each location inside the oven is obtained sequentially.

[0040] If the surface temperature of the food at the current location in the oven is greater than the target temperature of the food, mark the food at that location in the oven as a hot spot;

[0041] If the surface temperature of the food at the current location in the oven is lower than the target temperature of the food, mark the food at that location in the oven as a cold spot.

[0042] As a preferred embodiment, the step of controlling the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blades according to the cold and hot points of each ingredient specifically involves:

[0043] Based on the cold spots of the food at each location in the oven, the total amount of microwave radiation required for the surface temperature of each food to reach the hot spot is calculated.

[0044] Based on the total amount of microwave radiation required for heating each ingredient, the time for the microwave stirring blade to block microwaves at each position in the oven is calculated. Then, the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade are calculated so that the ingredients at each position in the oven can be heated simultaneously.

[0045] As a preferred embodiment, after controlling the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade according to the cold and hot points of each ingredient, the method further includes:

[0046] Based on real-time thermal imaging images, determine whether the surface temperature of the food at each location in the furnace has reached the temperature marked as a hot spot.

[0047] If so, the ingredients are cooked and heating should be stopped.

[0048] If not, the thermal imaging image inside the microwave oven is reacquired, and the surface temperature of the food at each location inside the oven is reacquired to redetermine the cold and hot spots of each food item. Then, the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade are recontrolled until the food at each location inside the oven reaches the hot spot simultaneously.

[0049] As a preferred embodiment, after reacquiring the thermal imaging image inside the microwave oven, the method further includes:

[0050] Based on the reacquired thermal imaging images inside the microwave oven, the system identifies the food located at the hot spot and issues an alarm, prompting the user to remove the cooked food so that it can be reheated in the microwave.

[0051] As a preferred embodiment, the step of identifying food ingredients from the oven image to obtain the location of the food ingredients inside the oven and the types of food ingredients at each location inside the oven specifically involves:

[0052] Based on the preset food ingredient recognition algorithm model, the food ingredients in the oven image are located to obtain the oven location of the food ingredients, and the types of food ingredients corresponding to the oven locations in the oven image are identified to obtain the oven location of the food ingredients and the types of food ingredients at each oven location.

[0053] As a preferred embodiment, the step of locating the food in the thermal imaging image based on its position within the oven specifically involves:

[0054] Based on the image of the inside of the oven after food identification, the coordinates of the location of the food inside the oven are calculated;

[0055] The furnace image and the thermal imaging image are overlapped in terms of features so that the coordinates of the location of the food inside the furnace are mapped onto the thermal imaging image, thereby enabling the food to be located in the thermal imaging image.

[0056] Accordingly, the present invention also provides a microwave oven, including a processor, a memory, and a computer program stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the processor, wherein the processor executes the computer program to implement the microwave oven control method as described in any of the above.

[0057] Accordingly, the present invention also provides a computer-readable storage medium comprising a stored computer program, wherein, when the computer program is executed, it controls the device on which the computer-readable storage medium is located to perform the microwave oven control method described in any of the above claims.

[0058] Compared with the prior art, the embodiments of the present invention have the following beneficial effects:

[0059] The technical solution of this invention determines the location of food items inside the microwave oven and their surface temperature by acquiring images and thermal imaging of the oven interior. This identifies the cold and hot spots of the food, allowing for precise control of the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade. This ensures accurate microwave control of the food items within the oven, preventing blocked microwaves from reaching the hot spots and ensuring that microwaves reach the cold spots for heating. This achieves simultaneous and uniform heating of various types of food, improving heating efficiency and eliminating the need for individual heating of each food item, thus avoiding the uneven heating problems caused by simultaneous heating in existing methods and enhancing the user experience. Attached Figure Description

[0060] Figure 1 : A flowchart illustrating the steps of a microwave oven control method provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0061] Figure 2 : A schematic diagram of the structure of a microwave oven provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0062] Figure 3 : A schematic diagram of the microwave magnetron device inside the microwave oven provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0063] Figure 4 : A schematic diagram of the structure of a microwave oven control device provided in an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0064] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0065] Example 1

[0066] Please refer to Figure 1 The present invention provides a microwave oven control method comprising the following steps S101-S105:

[0067] Step S101: In response to the user turning on microwave heating, the microwave oven's in-oven camera is invoked to acquire an image inside the oven.

[0068] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the in-oven camera installed inside the microwave oven can take pictures of the microwave oven's inner chassis from a top-down angle, thereby obtaining a top view of the microwave oven's chassis. Since the food is placed on the inner chassis of the microwave oven, the in-oven camera can acquire complete and clear images of the inner chassis during the microwave heating process of the food and ingredients.

[0069] Step S102: Perform food ingredient recognition on the oven image to obtain the location of the food ingredient inside the oven and the types of food ingredients at each location inside the oven.

[0070] As a preferred embodiment, the step of identifying food ingredients from the oven image to obtain the location of the food ingredients inside the oven and the types of food ingredients at each location inside the oven specifically involves:

[0071] Based on the preset food ingredient recognition algorithm model, the food ingredients in the oven image are located to obtain the oven location of the food ingredients, and the types of food ingredients corresponding to the oven locations in the oven image are identified to obtain the oven location of the food ingredients and the types of food ingredients at each oven location.

[0072] It should be noted that the preset food recognition algorithm model first uses pre-collected and calibrated images of the food inside the oven as training images. Based on these training images, a deep learning algorithm is trained to determine the model parameters, thus obtaining the food recognition algorithm model. The types of food recognition algorithm models include, but are not limited to, convolutional neural networks, recurrent neural networks, and other neural network models with deep learning capabilities. Understandably, the trained preset food recognition algorithm model can accurately locate and identify the types of food inside the oven, improving the efficiency and accuracy of image recognition and food heating / cooking in the microwave oven.

[0073] In this embodiment, a preset food identification algorithm model is used to locate the position of the food in the oven in the oven image, and the coordinates of the position of the food in the oven are marked. This allows the identification box to be accurately located on the food, thereby marking the type of the identified food as the position of the food in the oven and the type of food in each position in the oven.

[0074] It should be noted that the identifiable food categories include, but are not limited to, broad categories such as vegetables, meat and eggs, and seafood. Specifically, these broad categories can be further subdivided into specific subcategories. For example, vegetables can be further subdivided into leafy greens, root vegetables, legumes, and solanaceous vegetables; meat and eggs into eggs, livestock, and poultry; and seafood into fish, shrimp, crab, and shellfish. Meat and eggs, and seafood can also be further identified as frozen meat and dried goods, respectively. Furthermore, frequently used ingredients can be individually identified, allowing for more precise heating in subsequent steps.

[0075] Step S103: Activate the thermal imaging camera of the microwave oven and acquire thermal imaging images of the oven in real time.

[0076] It should be noted that in this embodiment, a temperature sensing thermal image of the microwave oven's base is obtained by using a thermal imaging camera installed inside the microwave oven to capture a thermal image of the oven's heating chassis. Furthermore, to facilitate subsequent registration of the oven-side image and the thermal imaging image for locating the food in the thermal image, both the thermal imaging camera inside the microwave oven and the oven-side camera are positioned in the same location, or approximately in the same location, to ensure information registration between the two images.

[0077] Step S104: Based on the location of the food in the oven, locate the food in the thermal imaging image and obtain the surface temperature of the food at each location in the oven, thereby determining the cold and hot spots of each food.

[0078] As a preferred embodiment, the step of locating the food in the thermal imaging image based on its position inside the oven specifically involves:

[0079] Based on the oven image after food identification, the coordinates of the food's location inside the oven are calculated; the oven image and the thermal imaging image are then superimposed to ensure that the coordinates of the food's location inside the oven are mapped onto the thermal imaging image, thereby enabling the food to be located in the thermal imaging image.

[0080] It should be noted that by acquiring thermal imaging images inside the furnace through a thermal imaging camera and images inside the furnace captured by a camera inside the furnace, the information of the images inside the furnace can be registered onto the thermal imaging images. This allows the coordinates of the food inside the furnace to be mapped and located on the thermal imaging images, thus enabling the location of the food in the thermal imaging images.

[0081] In a preferred embodiment, the step of obtaining the surface temperature of the food at each location inside the oven to determine the cold and hot spots of each food item specifically involves:

[0082] Based on a preset food cooking temperature chart, the target temperature of each food item in the oven is determined by identifying the type of food item at each location. The surface temperature of each food item in the oven is then acquired sequentially based on the thermal imaging image. If the surface temperature of the food item at the current location is greater than the target temperature, the food item at that location is marked as a hot spot. If the surface temperature of the food item at the current location is less than the target temperature, the food item at that location is marked as a cold spot.

[0083] It should be noted that the preset food cooking temperature table stores target temperatures for various food types. For example, the target temperature for leafy vegetables is 75℃, and for most subcategories of meat and eggs, the target temperature is around 90℃. Furthermore, to facilitate heating frequently used foods in daily use, users can also customize the target temperature for those foods, for example, setting the target temperature for bacon to 85℃. The target temperature of a food can be understood as the temperature at which the food is cooked. Therefore, by detecting whether the surface temperature of the food is higher than the hot spot, it can be determined whether the food is cooked. Because microwave ovens heat food through microwaves, unlike traditional cooking methods, microwave ovens heat food from the inside out. Therefore, the food heats up from the inside out, resulting in cooking from the inside out. In this embodiment, the cooking time can be determined by detecting the surface temperature of the food.

[0084] Step S105: Based on the cold and hot points of each ingredient, control the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade 001 so that the microwave stirring blade 001 blocks the microwaves emitted to the hot points of the ingredients and allows the microwaves to reach the cold points of the ingredients, thereby achieving simultaneous heating of different types of ingredients.

[0085] It should be noted that you should refer to [link / reference]. Figure 2 and Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the microwave oven and the microwave magnetron device inside the microwave oven provided in the embodiment of the present invention. A microwave stirring blade 001 is provided at the port that emits microwaves inside the microwave oven. The blade of the microwave stirring blade 001 can block microwaves so that the amount of microwave radiation received at the bottom of the microwave oven is different, thereby realizing radiative heating of food with different heat in different positions inside the oven. Preferably, the blade of the microwave stirring blade 001 is a semi-circular blade.

[0086] As a preferred embodiment, controlling the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade 001 according to the cold and hot points of each ingredient specifically involves:

[0087] Based on the cold spots of the food at each location in the oven, the total amount of microwave radiation required for the surface temperature of each food to reach the hot spots is calculated. Based on the total amount of microwave radiation required to heat each food, the time for the microwave stirring blade 001 to block microwaves at each location in the oven is calculated. Then, the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade 001 are calculated so that the food at each location in the oven can be heated simultaneously.

[0088] It should be noted that in this embodiment, since the microwave frequency inside the microwave oven is typically 300MHz-30GHz, when the microwave oven penetrates the food at an oscillation frequency of 2450MHz, causing the microwaves to be absorbed by the food, the polar molecules within the food are attracted and oscillate rapidly at a rate of 2.45 billion times per second, thus macroscopically appearing as the food being heated. Therefore, by calculating the total energy (total microwave radiation) required for the surface temperature of the food to reach the hot spot, and using the microwave energy density power, the time required for the microwave to irradiate the food can be calculated, and thus the time required for each food item to be microwave-heated can be calculated. Wherein, the microwave energy density power is: P″=2vfε0ε″ r E 2 In the formula, P″ is the volumetric energy density power, f is the microwave operating frequency, and ε0 = 8.85 × 10⁻⁶. -12 As / V is the dielectric constant of free space, ε″ r Where is the dielectric loss factor, and E is the electric field strength inside the microwave oven.

[0089] Furthermore, by calculating the heating time required for each ingredient, with the longest heating time taken as the total heating time, the difference between the heating time for each ingredient and the total heating time is calculated sequentially. This time difference is used as the time for the microwave stirring blade 001 to block microwaves at its corresponding position within the oven. For example, if three ingredients need to be heated in the microwave oven, with heating times of t1, t2, and t3 respectively, and the longest heating time being t2, then the microwave blocking time for the first ingredient is t′1 = |t1 - t2|, the microwave blocking time for the second ingredient is 0, and the microwave blocking time for the third ingredient is t′3 = |t3 - t2|. Based on this blocking time, by controlling the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade 001, different ingredients can be heated simultaneously, allowing them to cook at the same time.

[0090] For example, for the three ingredients mentioned above, based on their respective required blocking times—that is, no blocking is needed for ingredient 2, a blocking time of t′1 is needed for ingredient 1, and a blocking time of t′3 is needed for ingredient 3—when the microwave stirring blade 001 rotates, its rotational speed is much faster when passing the position of ingredient 2 in the oven than when passing the positions of ingredients 1 and 3. Therefore, the time the blade blocks microwaves when passing ingredient 2 is negligible. Thus, the time the blade spends passing ingredients 1 and 3 can be recorded, which is the blocking time, thereby controlling the rotational speed of the microwave stirring blade 001. Simultaneously, by controlling the rotational direction and speed of the stirring blade, the blade can be prevented from passing the position of ingredient 2 in the oven during rotation, allowing the blade to oscillate (rotate) between ingredients 1 and 3. Through a similar control principle, the blade can be controlled to block ingredients 1 and 3 respectively, thereby controlling the rotational direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade 001. Furthermore, the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade 001 can also be automatically controlled through a PWM adaptive control algorithm.

[0091] As a preferred embodiment, after controlling the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade 001 according to the cold and hot points of each ingredient, the method further includes:

[0092] Based on the real-time thermal imaging images, determine whether the surface temperature of the food at each location in the oven has reached the temperature marked as the hot spot. If so, the food is cooked and heating ends. If not, re-acquire the thermal imaging images inside the microwave oven and re-acquire the surface temperature of the food at each location in the oven to redetermine the cold and hot spots of each food. Then, re-control the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade 001 until the food at each location in the oven reaches the hot spot simultaneously.

[0093] It should be noted that in order to determine in real time whether the food is cooked after heating, the surface temperature of the food can be determined by real-time thermal imaging images. This avoids local overheating of the food due to deviations in the blocking position during the adaptive control of the microwave stirring blade 001, and allows for adaptive adjustments. At the same time, it can also determine whether the food is cooked in real time, thus improving the accuracy of food heating and cooking.

[0094] As a preferred embodiment, after reacquiring the thermal imaging image inside the microwave oven, the method further includes:

[0095] Based on the reacquired thermal imaging images inside the microwave oven, the system identifies the food located at the hot spot and issues an alarm, prompting the user to remove the cooked food so that it can be reheated in the microwave.

[0096] Understandably, by re-acquiring thermal imaging images from inside the microwave oven, the system can alert users in real time whether the food is cooked, and through an alarm, allow users to remove the cooked food and then reheat the undercooked food, thus preventing overcooking.

[0097] Implementing the above embodiments has the following effects:

[0098] The technical solution of this invention determines the location of food items inside the oven and their surface temperature by acquiring images and thermal imaging of the microwave oven. This identifies the cold and hot spots of the food items, allowing for precise control of the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade 001. This ensures accurate microwave control of the food items within the oven, preventing obstructed microwaves from reaching the hot spots and ensuring that microwaves reach the cold spots for heating. This achieves simultaneous and uniform heating of various types of food items, improving heating efficiency and eliminating the need for individual heating of each food item, thus avoiding the uneven heating problems caused by simultaneous heating in existing methods and enhancing the user experience.

[0099] Example 2

[0100] Please see Figure 4 The present invention provides a control device for a microwave oven, comprising: an in-oven image acquisition module 201, a food identification module 202, a thermal imaging image acquisition module 203, a hot and cold spot acquisition module 204, and a control module 205.

[0101] The oven image acquisition module 201 is used to call the oven camera of the microwave oven and acquire oven images in response to the user turning on microwave heating.

[0102] The food ingredient recognition module 202 is used to recognize food ingredients in the oven image to obtain the location of the food ingredients in the oven and the types of food ingredients at each location in the oven.

[0103] The thermal imaging image acquisition module 203 is used to call the thermal imaging camera of the microwave oven and acquire thermal imaging images inside the oven in real time.

[0104] The hot and cold spot acquisition module 204 is used to locate the food in the thermal imaging image according to the location of the food in the oven, and acquire the surface temperature of the food at each location in the oven, thereby determining the cold and hot spots of each food.

[0105] The control module 205 is used to control the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade 001 according to the cold and hot points of each food ingredient, so that the microwave stirring blade 001 blocks the microwaves emitted to the hot points of the food ingredients and allows the microwaves to reach the cold points of the food ingredients, thereby achieving simultaneous heating of various types of food ingredients.

[0106] In a preferred embodiment, the step of obtaining the surface temperature of the food at each location inside the oven to determine the cold and hot spots of each food item specifically involves:

[0107] Based on a preset food cooking temperature chart, the target temperature of each food item in the oven is determined by identifying the type of food item at each location. The surface temperature of each food item in the oven is then acquired sequentially based on the thermal imaging image. If the surface temperature of the food item at the current location is greater than the target temperature, the food item at that location is marked as a hot spot. If the surface temperature of the food item at the current location is less than the target temperature, the food item at that location is marked as a cold spot.

[0108] As a preferred embodiment, controlling the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade 001 according to the cold and hot points of each ingredient specifically involves:

[0109] Based on the cold spots of the food at each location in the oven, the total amount of microwave radiation required for the surface temperature of each food to reach the hot spots is calculated. Based on the total amount of microwave radiation required to heat each food, the time for the microwave stirring blade 001 to block microwaves at each location in the oven is calculated. Then, the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade 001 are calculated so that the food at each location in the oven can be heated simultaneously.

[0110] As a preferred embodiment, after controlling the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade 001 according to the cold and hot points of each ingredient, the method further includes:

[0111] Based on real-time acquired thermal imaging images, determine whether the surface temperature of the food at each location inside the furnace is within acceptable limits.

[0112] If all temperatures reach the marked hotspots, the food is cooked and heating ends; otherwise, the thermal imaging image inside the microwave oven is reacquired, and the surface temperature of the food at each location inside the oven is reacquired.

[0113] This allows for the re-determination of the cold and hot spots of each ingredient, thereby re-controlling the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade 001 until all ingredients in each location within the oven simultaneously reach their hot spots.

[0114] As a preferred embodiment, after reacquiring the thermal imaging image inside the microwave oven, the method further includes:

[0115] 5. Based on the reacquired thermal imaging image inside the microwave oven, the system identifies the food located at the hot spot and issues an alarm so that the user can remove the cooked food and reheat it in the microwave oven.

[0116] As a preferred embodiment, the step of identifying ingredients in the oven image to obtain the location of the ingredients in the oven and the types of ingredients at each location in the oven specifically involves: 0. According to a preset ingredient identification algorithm model, the ingredients in the oven image are located to obtain the location of the ingredients in the oven, and the types of ingredients corresponding to the locations in the oven image are identified to obtain the location of the ingredients in the oven and the types of ingredients at each location in the oven.

[0117] As a preferred embodiment, the step of locating the food in the thermal imaging image based on its location within the oven specifically involves: 5. Calculating the coordinates of the food's location within the oven based on the oven image after food identification; and then...

[0118] The internal image and the thermal imaging image are overlapped in terms of features so that the coordinates of the location of the food inside the oven are mapped onto the thermal imaging image, thereby enabling the food to be located in the thermal imaging image.

[0119] Those skilled in the art will understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working process of the device described above can be referred to the corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0120] Implementing the above embodiments has the following effects:

[0121] The technical solution of this invention determines the location of food items inside the oven and their surface temperature by acquiring images and thermal imaging of the microwave oven. This identifies the cold and hot spots of the food items, allowing for precise control of the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade 001. This ensures accurate microwave control of the food items within the oven, preventing obstructed microwaves from reaching the hot spots and ensuring that microwaves reach the cold spots for heating. This achieves simultaneous and uniform heating of various types of food items, improving heating efficiency and eliminating the need for individual heating of each food item, thus avoiding the uneven heating problems caused by simultaneous heating in existing methods and enhancing the user experience.

[0122] Example 3

[0123] Accordingly, the present invention also provides a microwave oven, comprising: a processor, a memory, and a computer program stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the processor, wherein the processor executes the computer program to implement the microwave oven control method as described in any of the above embodiments.

[0124] The microwave oven of this embodiment includes: a processor, a memory, and a computer program and computer instructions stored in the memory and executable on the processor. When the processor executes the computer program, it implements the various steps described in Embodiment 1 above, for example... Figure 1 The steps S101 to S105 are shown. Alternatively, when the processor executes the computer program, it implements the functions of each module / unit in the above-described device embodiment, such as the hot / cold spot acquisition module 204.

[0125] For example, the computer program can be divided into one or more modules / units, which are stored in the memory and executed by the processor to complete the present invention. The one or more modules / units can be a series of computer program instruction segments capable of performing specific functions, which describe the execution process of the computer program in the microwave oven. For example, the hot and cold spot acquisition module 204 is used to locate the food in the thermal imaging image based on its position inside the oven, and acquire the surface temperature of the food at each position inside the oven, thereby determining the cold and hot spots of each food item.

[0126] The processor can be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The processor is the control center of the microwave oven, connecting all parts of the microwave oven via various interfaces and lines.

[0127] The memory can be used to store the computer programs and / or modules. The processor implements various functions of the microwave oven by running or executing the computer programs and / or modules stored in the memory and by calling data stored in the memory. The memory may mainly include a program storage area and a data storage area. The program storage area may store the operating system, at least one application program required for a function, etc.; the data storage area may store data created based on the use of the mobile terminal, etc. In addition, the memory may include high-speed random access memory, and may also include non-volatile memory, such as hard disk, RAM, plug-in hard disk, smart media card (SMC), secure digital (SD) card, flash card, at least one disk storage device, flash memory device, or other volatile solid-state storage device.

[0128] If the integrated module / unit of the microwave oven is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, all or part of the processes in the above embodiments of the present invention can also be implemented by a computer program instructing related hardware. The computer program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and when executed by a processor, it can implement the steps of the above method embodiments. The computer program includes computer program code, which can be in the form of source code, object code, executable files, or certain intermediate forms. The computer-readable medium can include: any entity or device capable of carrying the computer program code, recording media, USB flash drives, portable hard drives, magnetic disks, optical disks, computer memory, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), electrical carrier signals, telecommunication signals, and software distribution media, etc. It should be noted that the content contained in the computer-readable medium can be customized according to the specific requirements of the software.

[0129] The requirements of legislation and patent practice within a jurisdiction may be appropriately added to or subtracted from. For example, in some jurisdictions, computer-readable media do not include electrical carrier signals and telecommunication signals, depending on legislation and patent practice.

[0130] Example 4

[0131] Accordingly, the present invention also provides a computer-readable storage medium comprising a stored computer program, wherein, when the computer program is executed, it controls the device on which the computer-readable storage medium is located to perform the microwave oven control method described in any of the above embodiments.

[0132] The specific embodiments described above further illustrate the purpose, technical solution, and beneficial effects of the present invention. It should be understood that the above descriptions are merely specific embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. In particular, it should be noted that for those skilled in the art, any provisions regarding the present invention...

[0133] Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of this invention shall be included within the protection scope of this invention 5.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a microwave oven, characterized in that, include: In response to the user turning on microwave heating, the microwave oven's in-oven camera is invoked to acquire images of the oven interior; Food ingredients are identified from the images inside the oven to determine the location of the ingredients inside the oven and the types of ingredients at each location. The microwave oven's thermal imaging camera is invoked to acquire real-time thermal images of the oven's interior. Based on the location of the food in the oven, the food in the thermal imaging image is located, and the surface temperature of the food at each location in the oven is obtained, thereby determining the cold and hot spots of each food. Based on the cold and hot points of each ingredient, the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blades are controlled so that the microwave stirring blades block the microwaves emitted to the hot points of the ingredients and allow the microwaves to reach the cold points of the ingredients, thereby achieving simultaneous heating of various types of ingredients. The method of controlling the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blades based on the cold and hot points of each ingredient is as follows: Based on the cold spots of the food at each location in the oven, the total amount of microwave radiation required for the surface temperature of each food to reach the hot spot is calculated. Based on the total amount of microwave radiation required for heating each ingredient, the time for the microwave stirring blade to block microwaves at each position in the oven is calculated, and then the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade are calculated so that the ingredients at each position in the oven can be heated simultaneously. The calculation of the microwave blocking time of the microwave stirring blades at each position in the oven, based on the total amount of microwave radiation required for heating each ingredient, includes: By calculating the total energy required for the surface temperature of the food to reach the hot spot and the energy density power of the microwave, the first time that the microwave needs to irradiate the food can be calculated. By calculating the first time required to heat each ingredient, the longest first time is taken as the total heating time. The difference between the first time and the total heating time for each ingredient is calculated sequentially, and the corresponding time difference is taken as the time for the microwave stirring blade to block microwaves at the corresponding position in the oven.

2. The microwave oven control method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The process of obtaining the surface temperature of food at each location within the oven to determine the cold and hot spots of each food item specifically involves: Based on the preset food cooking temperature chart, the target temperature of the food at each location in the oven is determined by identifying the type of food in that location. Based on the thermal imaging images, the surface temperature of the food at each location inside the oven is obtained sequentially. If the surface temperature of the food at the current location in the oven is greater than the target temperature of the food, mark the food at that location in the oven as a hot spot; If the surface temperature of the food at the current location in the oven is lower than the target temperature of the food, mark the food at that location in the oven as a cold spot.

3. The microwave oven control method as described in claim 2, characterized in that, After controlling the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blades according to the cold and hot points of each ingredient, the method further includes: Based on real-time thermal imaging images, determine whether the surface temperature of the food at each location in the furnace has reached the temperature marked as a hot spot. If so, the ingredients are cooked and heating should be stopped. If not, the thermal imaging image inside the microwave oven is reacquired, and the surface temperature of the food at each location inside the oven is reacquired to redetermine the cold and hot spots of each food item. Then, the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade are recontrolled until the food at each location inside the oven reaches the hot spot simultaneously.

4. The microwave oven control method as described in claim 3, characterized in that, After reacquiring the thermal imaging image inside the microwave oven, the process also includes: Based on the reacquired thermal imaging images inside the microwave oven, the system identifies the food located at the hot spot and issues an alarm, prompting the user to remove the cooked food so that it can be reheated in the microwave.

5. The microwave oven control method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The step of identifying food ingredients from the oven image to obtain the location of the food ingredients inside the oven and the types of food ingredients at each location is specifically as follows: Based on the preset food ingredient recognition algorithm model, the food ingredients in the oven image are located to obtain the oven location of the food ingredients, and the types of food ingredients corresponding to the oven locations in the oven image are identified to obtain the oven location of the food ingredients and the types of food ingredients at each oven location.

6. The microwave oven control method as described in claim 5, characterized in that, The step of locating the food in the thermal imaging image based on its position inside the oven specifically involves: Based on the image of the inside of the oven after food identification, the coordinates of the location of the food inside the oven are calculated; The furnace image and the thermal imaging image are overlapped in terms of features so that the coordinates of the location of the food inside the furnace are mapped onto the thermal imaging image, thereby enabling the food to be located in the thermal imaging image.

7. A control device for a microwave oven, characterized in that, include: The furnace image acquisition module, food identification module, thermal imaging image acquisition module, hot and cold spot acquisition module, and control module are included. The oven image acquisition module is used to respond to the user turning on microwave heating by calling the oven camera of the microwave oven and acquiring the oven image. The food ingredient recognition module is used to identify food ingredients in the oven image to obtain the location of the food ingredients in the oven and the types of food ingredients at each location in the oven. The thermal imaging image acquisition module is used to call the thermal imaging camera of the microwave oven and acquire thermal imaging images inside the oven in real time. The hot and cold spot acquisition module is used to locate the food in the thermal imaging image according to the location of the food in the oven, and to acquire the surface temperature of the food at each location in the oven, thereby determining the cold and hot spots of each food. The control module is used to control the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade according to the cold and hot points of each food ingredient, so that the microwave stirring blade blocks the microwaves emitted to the hot points of the food ingredient and allows the microwaves to reach the cold points of the food ingredient, thereby achieving simultaneous heating of various types of food ingredients. The method of controlling the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blades based on the cold and hot points of each ingredient is as follows: Based on the cold spots of the food at each location in the oven, the total amount of microwave radiation required for the surface temperature of each food to reach the hot spot is calculated. Based on the total amount of microwave radiation required for heating each ingredient, the time for the microwave stirring blade to block microwaves at each position in the oven is calculated, and then the rotation direction and speed of the microwave stirring blade are calculated so that the ingredients at each position in the oven can be heated simultaneously. The calculation of the microwave blocking time of the microwave stirring blades at each position in the oven, based on the total amount of microwave radiation required for heating each ingredient, includes: By calculating the total energy required for the surface temperature of the food to reach the hot spot and the energy density power of the microwave, the first time that the microwave needs to irradiate the food can be calculated. By calculating the first time required to heat each ingredient, the longest first time is taken as the total heating time. The difference between the first time and the total heating time for each ingredient is calculated sequentially, and the corresponding time difference is taken as the time for the microwave stirring blade to block microwaves at the corresponding position in the oven.

8. A microwave oven, characterized in that, The device includes a processor, a memory, and a computer program stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the processor, wherein the processor, when executing the computer program, implements the microwave oven control method as described in any one of claims 1 to 6.

9. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium includes a stored computer program, wherein, when the computer program is executed, it controls the device containing the computer-readable storage medium to perform the control method of a microwave oven as described in any one of claims 1 to 6.

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