Refrigerator and food positioning method

Abstract

This invention discloses a refrigerator and a method for locating food items. By installing multiple sound-collecting devices inside the refrigerator and attaching a sound-emitting unit to an RFID tag, the RFID tag is bound to the food item and placed inside the refrigerator. The sound emitted by the sound-emitting unit can be captured by the sound-collecting devices, and the food item is located based on the loudness of the sound detected by the sound-collecting devices. Using this invention improves the accuracy of food item location, allowing users to quickly determine the storage location of the food item.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of refrigerators, in particular to a refrigerator and a food material positioning method. BACKGROUND

[0002] In the use process of the existing refrigerator, the user often forgets which compartment of the refrigerator the food is stored in, does not know what food is placed in a certain compartment of the refrigerator, needs to open the refrigerator and search one by one, which is time-consuming and laborious, and also causes the cold air of the refrigerator to leak, thereby increasing power consumption. In order to solve the problem of difficulty in finding food materials, a picture recognition method is adopted, that is, a picture is collected by a camera device installed in the storage compartment, and the food materials in the picture are recognized by a recognition algorithm. Although this method can realize food material positioning, food material stacking and shielding will inevitably occur, and the food materials will be mostly shielded, so accurate recognition will be impossible. In addition, the positioning error is large when the food materials are positioned by image recognition, and the overall recognition accuracy is not high. SUMMARY

[0003] The purpose of the embodiments of the present application is to provide a refrigerator and a food material positioning method, which can improve the accuracy of food material positioning and enable the user to quickly know the storage position of the food material.

[0004] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the embodiments of the present application provide a refrigerator, which comprises:

[0005] A reader-writer, which comprises a reader-writer host arranged in the interior of the refrigerator and a plurality of antennas, the reader-writer host sends or receives radio frequency signals to an RFID tag through the antennas, so that the RFID tag responds to the radio frequency signals; wherein the RFID tag is provided with a sound generating unit;

[0006] A plurality of sound pickup devices, which are distributed in the storage compartment in the refrigerator according to a preset arrangement rule;

[0007] The controller is configured to:

[0008] In response to a food material search instruction, the food material information of a target food material corresponding to the food material search instruction is acquired;

[0009] According to the food material information, a target RFID tag corresponding to the target food material is queried, and a response instruction is sent to the reader-writer host, so that the reader-writer host sends the response instruction to the target RFID tag through the antennas; wherein the response instruction is used to make the sound generating unit of the target RFID tag emit a sound with a preset decibel;

[0010] The sound loudness detected by all the sound pickup devices is received, and the position of the target food material is determined according to the sound loudness.

[0011] As an improvement of the above-mentioned scheme, the determining the position of the target food material according to the sound loudness comprises:

[0012] obtaining a target sound loudness with maximum decibels from the sound loudness;

[0013] finding a corresponding target sound pickup device according to the target sound loudness, and taking the position of the target sound pickup device as the position of the target food material.

[0014] As an improvement of the above-mentioned scheme, the taking the position of the target sound pickup device as the position of the target food material comprises:

[0015] when the number of the target sound pickup devices is 1, taking the position of the target sound pickup device as the position of the target food material;

[0016] when the number of the target sound pickup devices is greater than 1 and less than a preset number threshold, taking the middle position of the plurality of target sound pickup devices as the position of the target food material;

[0017] when the number of the target sound pickup devices is greater than or equal to the preset number threshold, re-obtaining the sound loudness detected by all the sound pickup devices.

[0018] As an improvement of the above-mentioned scheme, the controller is further configured to:

[0019] obtaining a pre-stored space layout map of a corresponding storage compartment according to the position of the target food material;

[0020] marking the position of the target food material in the space layout map and displaying the position of the target food material in the display screen of the refrigerator.

[0021] As an improvement of the above-mentioned scheme, the food material searching instruction is triggered when the refrigerator performs a food material inventory operation, and the controller triggers the food material inventory operation when detecting that the refrigerator door is closed; wherein each food material searching instruction corresponds to a target food material to be searched, and after searching for one target food material, the controller starts to respond to the next food material searching instruction.

[0022] As an improvement of the above-mentioned scheme, the food material searching instruction is triggered by a user through a voice signal or a display screen touch operation.

[0023] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the embodiment of the present application further provides a refrigerator food material positioning method, comprising:

[0024] in response to a food material searching instruction, obtaining food material information of a target food material corresponding to the food material searching instruction;

[0025] According to the food material information, a target RFID tag corresponding to the target food material is queried, and a response instruction is sent to a reader host, so that the reader host sends the response instruction to the target RFID tag through an antenna; wherein the reader host sends or receives a radio frequency signal to the RFID tag through the antenna, so that the RFID tag responds to the radio frequency signal, and a sound generating unit is arranged on the RFID tag, and the response instruction is used to make the sound generating unit of the target RFID tag generate a preset decibel sound;

[0026] Receiving sound loudness detected by a plurality of sound pickup devices in the refrigerator, and determining the position of the target food material according to the sound loudness; wherein the sound pickup devices are distributed in the storage compartment of the refrigerator according to a preset arrangement rule.

[0027] As an improvement of the above scheme, the determination of the position of the target food material according to the sound loudness comprises:

[0028] Obtaining a target sound loudness with the maximum decibel from the sound loudness;

[0029] According to the target sound loudness, a corresponding target sound pickup device is found, and the position of the target sound pickup device is taken as the position of the target food material.

[0030] As an improvement of the above scheme, the position of the target food material is taken as the position of the target sound pickup device, comprising:

[0031] When the number of target sound pickup devices is 1, the position of the target sound pickup device is taken as the position of the target food material;

[0032] When the number of target sound pickup devices is greater than 1 and less than a preset number threshold, the middle position of the plurality of target sound pickup devices is taken as the position of the target food material;

[0033] When the number of target sound pickup devices is greater than or equal to the preset number threshold, the sound loudness detected by all sound pickup devices is reacquired.

[0034] As an improvement of the above scheme, the method further comprises:

[0035] According to the position of the target food material, a pre-stored space layout diagram of the corresponding storage compartment is obtained;

[0036] The position of the target food material is marked in the space layout diagram and displayed on the display screen of the refrigerator.

[0037] Compared with the prior art, the refrigerator and the food positioning method thereof disclosed by the embodiment of the present application can be used to place the RFID tag bound with the food in the refrigerator after the RFID tag is bound with the food, and the sound emitted by the sound emitting unit can be captured by the sound pickup device, and then the food can be positioned according to the sound loudness detected by the sound pickup device. By using the embodiment of the present application, the detection accuracy will not be affected by the food being shielded, the accuracy of food positioning can be improved, and the user can quickly know the storage position of the food. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0038] Figure 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a refrigerator provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0039] Figure 2 is a flowchart of a refrigerator food positioning method provided by the embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, but not all the embodiments of the present application. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative labor fall within the protection scope of the present application.

[0041] Referring to Figure 1 , Figure 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a refrigerator provided by the embodiment of the present application, and the refrigerator comprises:

[0042] The read-write device 10 comprises a read-write device host and a plurality of antennas arranged in the interior of the refrigerator, the read-write device host sends or receives radio frequency signals to the RFID tag through the antennas, so that the RFID tag responds to the radio frequency signals; wherein the RFID tag is provided with a sound emitting unit;

[0043] The plurality of sound pickup devices 20 are distributed in the storage compartment in the refrigerator according to a preset arrangement rule;

[0044] The controller 30 is configured to:

[0045] In response to a food search instruction, the food information of the target food corresponding to the food search instruction is acquired;

[0046] According to the food information, a target RFID tag corresponding to the target food is queried, and a response instruction is sent to the reader host, so that the reader host sends the response instruction to the target RFID tag through the antenna; wherein the response instruction is used to make the generating unit of the target RFID tag emit a preset decibel sound;

[0047] The sound loudness detected by all the sound pickup devices 20 is received, and the position of the target food is determined according to the sound loudness.

[0048] It is worth noting that the reader host serves as a transmission medium of the antenna and the controller 30, transmits or receives radio frequency signals to the RFID tag through the antenna, so that the RFID tag performs corresponding operations, and the RFID tag can also return radio frequency signals to the antenna, and the antenna sends the radio frequency signals to the reader host.

[0049] For example, the sound pickup device 20 is installed in the storage compartment, and is arranged according to a preset distance interval on the side wall and the bottom of each storage compartment. The distance interval can be 10 cm. When the controller 30 receives the food search instruction, after obtaining the food information corresponding to the food search instruction, the target RFID tag corresponding to the target food is queried according to the food information, and a response instruction is sent to make the generating unit of the target RFID tag emit a preset decibel sound. At the same time, when the controller 30 receives the food search instruction, all the sound pickup devices 30 are started for synchronous detection, and the sound loudness detected by all the sound pickup devices is obtained at the same time, and the position of the target food is determined according to the sound loudness.

[0050] Further, in order to ensure that the detection result of the sound pickup device 30 obtained is reliable, multiple detection results can be continuously obtained and then averaged for evaluation, for example, the detection result of the sound pickup device 30 is obtained every 1 second, and the detection result is obtained for 3 times continuously, and then the average value is taken as the detection result of the sound pickup device 30.

[0051] Specifically, in the embodiment of the present application, the food search instruction can be triggered automatically when the refrigerator performs an inventory operation, or triggered by sending a control command when the user needs to actively search for a food.

[0052] In one embodiment, the food search instruction is triggered when the refrigerator performs a food inventory operation, and the controller triggers the food inventory operation when the refrigerator door is closed; wherein each food search instruction corresponds to a target food to be searched, and after searching for a target food, the controller starts to respond to the next food search instruction.

[0053] For example, the user opens the refrigerator door, randomly puts the label and food into the corresponding compartment, closes the refrigerator door after the operation, and the controller 30 automatically starts to execute the inventory operation and activates the pickup device of each compartment. At this time, the controller 30 finds the food stored in the refrigerator from the pre-stored database (when the food and the label are bound, the information of the food of the label will be automatically recorded), and generates a food search instruction from the first food in order. When all the food is positioned, the storage position of all the food is recorded, and the user can be directly informed when the user needs to find a food.

[0054] In another embodiment, the food search instruction is triggered by the user through voice signal or display screen touch operation. For example, the user manually opens the food software management system of the mobile phone or the refrigerator screen, or wakes up by voice: "Hello, Harry, I want to find beef", and then the food software management system automatically starts the electronic tag reading and writing communication system of the refrigerator to wake up the electronic tag of the beef.

[0055] Optionally, the position of the target food is determined according to the sound intensity, comprising:

[0056] Obtaining a target sound intensity with the maximum decibel from the sound intensity;

[0057] Finding a target pickup device corresponding to the target sound intensity, and taking the position of the target pickup device as the position of the target food.

[0058] For example, after obtaining the sound intensity detected by each pickup device 30, a target sound intensity with the maximum decibel is selected from the multiple sound intensities, and a target pickup device corresponding to the target sound intensity is found. The closer the target RFID tag is to the target pickup device, the greater the sound intensity detected by the target RFID tag.

[0059] Optionally, the position of the target food is determined according to the sound intensity, comprising:

[0060] When the number of target pickup devices is 1, the position of the target pickup device is taken as the position of the target food;

[0061] When the number of target pickup devices is greater than 1 and less than a preset number threshold, the middle position of multiple target pickup devices is taken as the position of the target food;

[0062] When the number of target pickup devices is greater than or equal to the preset number threshold, the sound intensity detected by all pickup devices is reacquired.

[0063] Exemplarily, the quantity threshold is 5. When the quantity of the target pickup devices is greater than or equal to 5, the target pickup devices are too many, the data is inaccurate, and re-measurement is needed.

[0064] Optionally, the controller 30 is further configured to:

[0065] acquire a pre-stored space layout map of a corresponding storage compartment according to the position of the target food material;

[0066] mark the position of the target food material in the space layout map and display the space layout map on the display screen of the refrigerator.

[0067] Exemplarily, to facilitate the user to quickly know the storage position of the target food material, the space layout map marked with the position of the target food material is acquired after the position of the target food material is acquired, and the user can quickly find the corresponding position to take out the target food material.

[0068] Compared with the prior art, the refrigerator disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be positioned by setting multiple pickup devices in the refrigerator and setting a sound emitting unit on an RFID tag, placing the RFID tag bound with the food material in the refrigerator, capturing the sound emitted by the sound emitting unit through the pickup devices, and then positioning the food material according to the sound loudness detected by the pickup devices. By using the embodiments of the present application, the detection accuracy is not affected by the food material being blocked, the positioning accuracy of the food material is improved, and the user can quickly know the storage position of the food material.

[0069] Referring to Figure 2 , Figure 2 is a flowchart of a refrigerator food material positioning method provided by the embodiments of the present application. The refrigerator food material positioning method comprises the following steps.

[0070] S1, in response to a food material searching instruction, acquiring food material information of a target food material corresponding to the food material searching instruction;

[0071] S2, querying a target RFID tag corresponding to the target food material according to the food material information, and sending a response instruction to a reader host, so that the reader host sends the response instruction to the target RFID tag through an antenna; wherein the reader host sends or receives a radio frequency signal to the RFID tag through the antenna, so that the RFID tag responds to the radio frequency signal, the RFID tag is provided with a sound emitting unit, and the response instruction is used to make the sound emitting unit of the target RFID tag emit a sound with a preset decibel;

[0072] S3, receiving sound loudness detected by a plurality of pickup devices in the refrigerator, and determining the position of the target food material according to the sound loudness; wherein the pickup devices are distributed in the storage compartments in the refrigerator according to a preset arrangement rule.

[0073] It is worth mentioning that the refrigerator food positioning method described in the embodiments of the present application is realized by a controller in the refrigerator. The reader host serves as a transmission medium of the antenna and the controller, transmits or receives radio frequency signals to the RFID tag through the antenna, so that the RFID tag performs corresponding operations, and the RFID tag can also return radio frequency signals to the antenna, and the antenna sends the radio frequency signals to the reader host.

[0074] For example, the sound pickup device is installed in the storage compartment, and is arranged according to a preset distance interval on the side wall and the bottom of each storage compartment. The distance interval can be 10 cm. When the controller receives the food search instruction, after obtaining the food information corresponding to the food search instruction, the target RFID tag corresponding to the target food is queried according to the food information, and a response instruction is sent to make the generating unit of the target RFID tag emit a sound of a preset decibel. At the same time, the controller starts all the sound pickup devices for synchronous detection when receiving the food search instruction, and simultaneously obtains the sound loudness detected by all the sound pickup devices, and determines the position of the target food according to the sound loudness. Not only can the storage compartment where the food is stored be found, but also the specific position of the storage compartment can be located.

[0075] Further, in order to ensure that the detection result of the sound pickup device obtained is reliable, the detection result can be obtained continuously for several times and then the average value is taken for evaluation, for example, the detection result of the sound pickup device is obtained every 1 second, and the detection result is obtained continuously for 3 times, and then the average value is taken as the detection result of the sound pickup device.

[0076] Specifically, in the embodiments of the present application, the food search instruction can be triggered automatically when the refrigerator performs an inventory operation, or triggered by sending a control command when a user needs to actively search for a food.

[0077] In one embodiment, the food search instruction is triggered when the refrigerator performs a food inventory operation, and the controller triggers the food inventory operation when detecting that the refrigerator door is closed. Each food search instruction corresponds to a target food to be searched for, and after searching for a target food, the controller starts to respond to the next food search instruction.

[0078] For example, the user opens the refrigerator door, randomly puts the label and food into the corresponding compartment, closes the refrigerator door after the food is put in, and the controller automatically starts to execute the inventory operation and activates the pickup device of each compartment. At this time, the controller finds the food stored in the refrigerator from the pre-stored database (when the food and the label are bound, the information of the food of the label will be automatically recorded), and generates a food search instruction from the first food in order. When all the food is positioned, the storage position of all the food is recorded, and when the user needs to find a certain food, the user can be directly informed.

[0079] In another embodiment, the food search instruction is triggered by the user through voice signal or display screen touch operation. For example, the user manually opens the food management system of the mobile phone or the refrigerator screen, or wakes up by voice: "Hello, Harry, I want to find beef", and then the food management system automatically starts the electronic tag reading and writing communication system of the refrigerator to wake up the electronic tag of the beef.

[0080] Optionally, the determining the position of the target food according to the sound intensity comprises:

[0081] obtaining a target sound intensity with the maximum decibel from the sound intensity;

[0082] finding a target pickup device corresponding to the target sound intensity, and taking the position of the target pickup device as the position of the target food.

[0083] For example, after obtaining the sound intensity detected by each pickup device, a target sound intensity with the maximum decibel is selected from the multiple sound intensities, and a target pickup device corresponding to the target sound intensity is found. The closer the target RFID tag is to the target pickup device, the greater the sound intensity detected by the target RFID tag.

[0084] Optionally, the taking the position of the target pickup device as the position of the target food comprises:

[0085] when the number of the target pickup devices is 1, taking the position of the target pickup device as the position of the target food;

[0086] when the number of the target pickup devices is greater than 1 and less than a preset number threshold, taking the middle position of the multiple target pickup devices as the position of the target food;

[0087] when the number of the target pickup devices is greater than or equal to the preset number threshold, re-obtaining the sound intensity detected by all the pickup devices.

[0088] Exemplarily, the quantity threshold is 5. When the quantity of the target pickup devices is greater than or equal to 5, the target pickup devices are too many, the data is inaccurate, and thus re-measurement is needed.

[0089] Optionally, the refrigerator food positioning method further comprises:

[0090] acquiring a pre-stored space layout map of a corresponding storage compartment according to the position of the target food;

[0091] marking the position of the target food in the space layout map and displaying on the display screen of the refrigerator.

[0092] Exemplarily, to facilitate the user to quickly know the storage position of the target food, the space layout map marked with the position of the target food is acquired after the position of the target food is obtained, and the user can quickly find the corresponding position to take out the target food.

[0093] Compared with the prior art, the refrigerator food positioning method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application sets multiple pickup devices in the refrigerator and sets a sound emitting unit on the RFID tag, the RFID tag is bound with the food and placed in the refrigerator, the sound emitting unit can be captured by the pickup device by controlling the sound emitting unit to emit sound, and then the food is positioned according to the sound loudness detected by the pickup device. By using the embodiments of the present application, the detection accuracy is not affected by the food being blocked, the accuracy of food positioning is improved, and the user can quickly know the storage position of the food.

[0094] The above is the preferred embodiment of the present application, and it should be pointed out that for ordinary skilled in the art, without departing from the principles of the present application, a number of improvements and refinements can be made, and these improvements and refinements are also considered within the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A refrigerator, characterized in that, include: The reader includes a reader host and several antennas disposed inside the refrigerator. The reader host sends or receives radio frequency signals to the RFID tag through the antennas, so that the RFID tag responds to the radio frequency signals. The RFID tag is provided with a sound-emitting unit. Several pickup devices are arranged in the storage compartment of the refrigerator according to a preset arrangement rule; The controller is configured as follows: In response to an ingredient search command, obtain the ingredient information of the target ingredient corresponding to the ingredient search command; The system queries the target RFID tag corresponding to the target ingredient based on the ingredient information and sends a response command to the reader host, so that the reader host sends the response command to the target RFID tag through the antenna; wherein, the response command is used to make the sound unit of the target RFID tag emit a sound of a preset decibel; Receive the sound loudness detected by all the sound pickup devices, and determine the location of the target food ingredient based on the sound loudness.

2. The refrigerator as described in claim 1, characterized in that, Determining the location of the target ingredient based on the sound loudness includes: Obtain the target sound loudness in decibels from the sound loudness; The target sound pickup device is located based on the target sound loudness, and the location of the target sound pickup device is taken as the location of the target food ingredient.

3. The refrigerator as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The phrase "using the location of the target sound pickup device as the location of the target food ingredient" includes: When the number of target sound pickup devices is 1, the position of the target sound pickup device is taken as the position of the target food ingredient; When the number of target microphones is greater than 1 and less than a preset number threshold, the middle position of the multiple target microphones is taken as the position of the target food ingredient. When the number of target pickup devices is greater than or equal to a preset threshold, the sound loudness detected by all pickup devices is reacquired.

4. The refrigerator as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The controller is also configured to: Obtain a pre-stored spatial layout diagram of the corresponding storage room based on the location of the target ingredient; The location of the target food ingredient is marked on the spatial layout diagram and displayed on the refrigerator's display screen.

5. The refrigerator as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The food search command is triggered by the refrigerator when performing a food inventory operation. The controller triggers the food inventory operation when it detects that the refrigerator door is closed. Each food search command corresponds to a target food that needs to be searched. After searching for a target food, the controller starts responding to the next food search command.

6. The refrigerator as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The ingredient search command is triggered by the user through voice signals or touch operation on the display screen.

7. A method for locating food items in a refrigerator, characterized in that, include: In response to an ingredient search command, obtain the ingredient information of the target ingredient corresponding to the ingredient search command; The system queries the target RFID tag corresponding to the target ingredient based on the ingredient information and sends a response command to the reader host, so that the reader host sends the response command to the target RFID tag through the antenna; wherein, the reader host sends or receives radio frequency signals to the RFID tag through the antenna, so that the RFID tag responds to the radio frequency signals, and the RFID tag is provided with a sound unit, and the response command is used to make the sound unit of the target RFID tag emit a sound of a preset decibel; The refrigerator receives sound intensity detected by several sound pickup devices and determines the location of the target food item based on the sound intensity; wherein the sound pickup devices are distributed in the storage compartment of the refrigerator according to a preset arrangement rule.

8. The refrigerator food positioning method as described in claim 7, characterized in that, Determining the location of the target ingredient based on the sound loudness includes: Obtain the target sound loudness in decibels from the sound loudness; The target sound pickup device is located based on the target sound loudness, and the location of the target sound pickup device is taken as the location of the target food ingredient.

9. The refrigerator food positioning method as described in claim 8, characterized in that, The phrase "using the location of the target sound pickup device as the location of the target food ingredient" includes: When the number of target sound pickup devices is 1, the position of the target sound pickup device is taken as the position of the target food ingredient; When the number of target microphones is greater than 1 and less than a preset number threshold, the middle position of the multiple target microphones is taken as the position of the target food ingredient. When the number of target pickup devices is greater than or equal to a preset threshold, the sound loudness detected by all pickup devices is reacquired.

10. The refrigerator food positioning method as described in claim 7, characterized in that, The method further includes: Obtain a pre-stored spatial layout diagram of the corresponding storage room based on the location of the target ingredient; The location of the target food ingredient is marked on the spatial layout diagram and displayed on the refrigerator's display screen.

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