Appliance Food Management System Using Image Recognition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Prepared foods require specific cooking instructions that vary by appliance and user preferences, leading to space inefficiencies due to bulky packaging that must retain instructions for proper preparation.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for data transmission and appliance communication that uses an imaging device to capture and transmit food images to a computing system, correlating them with preparation instructions stored in a database, allowing for user modifications and learned preferences, and outputting control signals for cooking parameters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If preparation instructions are printed on food packaging, then users can access cooking instructions, but packaging becomes bulky and consumes storage space
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses optical scanning (barcode or image recognition) to capture preparation instructions from packaging and creates a digital copy stored in a database. This digital copy replaces the need for physical packaging with printed instructions, eliminating the space-consuming aspect while preserving the information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary system consisting of an optical scanner, database, and appliance controller that mediates between the physical packaging and the cooking appliance. This intermediary captures, stores, and transmits preparation instructions electronically, removing the need for bulky printed packaging.
2Adaptability or versatility
If general preparation instructions are provided, then packaging can be simplified, but user preferences and appliance-specific settings cannot be accommodated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic system where preparation instructions are not static printed text but can be modified and adapted in real-time. The appliance controller receives optical input, queries a database for appliance-specific parameters, and dynamically generates customized cooking instructions based on both the food type and the specific appliance being used.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback loops where the appliance controller communicates with a database to retrieve appliance-specific settings and user preferences. This feedback mechanism allows the system to adjust cooking parameters based on the specific appliance characteristics and user history, enhancing adaptability without requiring complex manual configuration.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for data transmission and appliance communication is provided. The system is configured to obtain a food identifier input and a preparation instruction input, generate a database correlating the food identifier input to the preparation instruction input, capture an image of food to be prepared, transmit the image of food to be prepared to a computing system, compare, at the computing system, the captured image to the database, and determine a preparation instruction corresponding to the captured image.