Acoustic Roasting Stage Detection for Automated Bean Offloading
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for determining coffee bean roasting stages are subjective and labor-intensive, relying on human experience and auditory cues, leading to inconsistencies in roasting quality and requiring roasters to constantly monitor the roasting process.
Innovation Solution
An assisting apparatus equipped with a microphone and processor that senses sound within the roasting chamber, analyzes audio signals, and generates control signals to accurately determine roasting stages, reducing human intervention and enabling automatic bean offloading.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If human roasters determine roasting stages by listening to sound generated during roasting, then roasting experience and skill can be utilized, but the method causes uncertainty due to different roaster experiences and requires constant human monitoring which is labor-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the human auditory system with an automated acoustic detection system comprising a microphone, signal processor, and control unit. The system automatically captures, analyzes, and interprets acoustic signals generated during roasting to determine roasting stages, eliminating the need for human roasters to constantly monitor and listen to the roasting process. This substitution transforms a manual, experience-dependent task into an automated, objective measurement process.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables the roasting process to self-monitor and self-report its stage through automated acoustic analysis. The detection apparatus continuously analyzes sound signals and automatically identifies roasting stages without requiring human intervention or expertise. The system serves itself by autonomously determining when roasting milestones occur and can trigger appropriate responses or notifications.
2Manufacturing precision
If human roasters constantly monitor the roasting process to determine offloading time, then roasting quality can be maintained, but the roaster must wait beside the roasting device for a long time which is quite labor consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements continuous acoustic feedback monitoring during the roasting process. The microphone captures sound signals in real-time, the signal processor analyzes these signals to detect characteristic acoustic patterns indicating different roasting stages, and the control unit processes this information to determine the precise offloading time. This closed-loop feedback system provides continuous information about the roasting state without requiring human presence.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary analysis of acoustic signals to predict and identify upcoming roasting stages before they occur. By continuously monitoring and analyzing sound patterns, the system can anticipate when critical roasting milestones will be reached and prepare appropriate notifications or automated responses in advance, eliminating the need for roasters to wait passively.
3Productivity
If automated acoustic detection is implemented to determine roasting stages, then labor requirement is reduced and roasting information can be obtained without constant monitoring, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system is designed with multi-functionality to justify its complexity. The same acoustic detection and analysis apparatus serves multiple purposes: detecting roasting stages, identifying specific acoustic events (cracks, pops), providing real-time feedback, enabling automated control, and potentially recording data for quality analysis. This multi-functionality consolidates what would otherwise require multiple separate systems into a single integrated solution.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary signal processing layer between the raw acoustic signals and the roasting control system. The microphone captures complex acoustic signals, the signal processor extracts relevant features and patterns, and the control unit translates these into actionable roasting stage determinations. This intermediary layer simplifies the overall system architecture by handling the complexity of signal analysis separately from the control logic.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution allows for precise determination of coffee bean roasting stages without human error, reducing labor and ensuring consistent roasting quality by providing real-time roasting information and enabling automatic operations.
Implementation Method 1
a microphone and a processor. The microphone is configured to sense sound in a chamber of the bean roasting device to generate an audio signal
Data Source
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AI summary
An assisting apparatus (1) for bean roasting and a bean roasting apparatus (3) are provided. The present invention senses sound in a chamber (35) of a bean roasting apparatus (3) through a microphone (11) to generate an audio signal, and control the bean roasting procedure by determining that the energy value of the audio signal crosses a threshold at a time point based on the observation time window.