Cooking Chamber Contour Detection With User-Confirmed Image Candidates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cooking devices often incorrectly recognize the contour of objects being heated due to integration with backgrounds, similar colors, or shadows, leading to erroneous determination of food conditions during cooking.
Innovation Solution
A cooking device with a heating unit, lighting unit, image capturing unit, and display that generates and presents contour candidates to the user for approval, reducing operation burden and ensuring accurate contour recognition by considering various imaging situations and requesting user confirmation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If automatic contour recognition is performed using image processing, then productivity is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates due to incorrect recognition from background integration, similar colors, or shadows
Solution Approach 1:
The system displays detected contour candidates to the user and receives feedback to confirm or correct the contour. This feedback loop allows automatic processing to maintain productivity while user verification ensures measurement precision by correcting recognition errors caused by backgrounds, similar colors, or shadows.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of requiring full manual contour drawing, the system performs partial automatic recognition to generate contour candidates, then only requires user confirmation or minor corrections. This excessive automatic action maintains productivity while the user's partial involvement ensures precision.
2Measurement precision
If multiple contour candidates are generated and presented to the user, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The complex image processing task is segmented into distinct functional units: lighting control unit, image capturing unit, contour candidate generation unit, and display unit. Each unit handles a specific aspect of the contour recognition process, making the overall complex system manageable and maintainable while achieving high measurement precision through multiple candidates.
3Measurement precision
If user confirmation of contour is required, then measurement precision is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to additional user steps
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs excessive automatic contour detection to generate multiple candidates, reducing the user's operation to simple confirmation or selection rather than manual contour drawing. This partial user involvement maintains ease of operation while ensuring measurement precision through accurate candidate generation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system serves itself by automatically generating contour candidates and presenting them for confirmation, eliminating the need for manual contour drawing. The user's role is reduced to verifying the automatically generated candidates, significantly improving ease of operation while maintaining measurement precision.
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
Enables accurate contour determination and appropriate heating treatment by presenting contour candidates to the user for approval, reducing errors and ensuring correct contour recognition, thus improving cooking precision.
Implementation Method 1
a lighting unit that illuminates inside the heating chamber
Implementation Method 2
an image capturing unit that captures an image of an inside of the heating chamber
Implementation Method 3
a heating unit that heats an object to be heated
Data Source
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AI summary
A contour candidate to be presented to a user is determined by presented contour determination unit (108) from among a plurality of contours of object to be heated (110) that are generated by contour candidate generator (107), a contour is presented to the user via display (105) in consideration of a priority order, approval of the contour is requested of the user, and a contour of object to be heated (110) that is intended by the user is acquired without impairing the convenience of the user in a state where an operation burden on the user is reduced.