Coded Food Recognition for Standby-Triggered Cooking Control

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional cooking device control methods rely heavily on manual operations, leading to low intelligence and inefficient operation, which affects the efficiency of cooking devices.

Innovation Solution

A method and apparatus that scans a coded pattern on food to obtain information, sends standby and cooking instructions to the cooking device based on preset conditions, and receives state information to control the cooking process, enabling automated cooking operations without manual assistance.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If automated control is implemented using coded pattern scanning, then operational efficiency and intelligence are improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveoperational efficiencyVSAvoiddevice complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a coded pattern (barcode/QR code) as an intermediary carrier that stores food information. This intermediary enables automated identification and data transmission between the food item and the cooking device control system, eliminating manual input while keeping the overall system complexity manageable through standardized encoding formats.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces manual mechanical operations (typing, button pressing) with automated optical scanning systems. The scanning device optically reads the coded pattern and automatically transmits data to the cooking device, substituting human manual control with an automated optical-mechanical system that improves efficiency.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Ease of operation

If manual operations are required for cooking device control, then device complexity remains low, but operational efficiency deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveease of operationVSAvoidoperational efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system enables self-service operation where the cooking device automatically identifies the food item through coded pattern scanning, retrieves corresponding cooking parameters, and executes the cooking process without requiring manual intervention. The device serves itself by autonomously completing the entire cooking workflow based on the scanned code.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies preliminary action by pre-storing cooking parameters, recipes, and operational data within the coded pattern on the food packaging. This allows the cooking device to automatically retrieve and execute the correct cooking program without requiring users to manually input or search for cooking instructions, thereby improving operational efficiency.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP3575897B1Cooking apparatus control method and device, computer device and storage medium
Publication Date: 2024.07.10 WENLE ZHOU
  • EP3575897B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3575897B1 patent drawingFigure 2~3
  • EP3575897B1 patent drawingFigure 4~6

AI summary

The present application relates to a cooking apparatus control method and device, a computer device and a storage medium. The cooking apparatus control method comprises: scanning a coded pattern preconfigured for food to be cooked to obtain information of the food to be cooked for describing the food to be cooked; when the information of the food to be cooked meets a preset standby condition, sending a standby instruction to the cooking apparatus to control the cooking apparatus to enter a standby state; when the cooking apparatus is in the standby state and meets a preset cooking condition, sending a cooking instruction to the cooking apparatus to control the cooking apparatus to cook the food to be cooked; and receiving state information for describing the cooking state of the cooking apparatus sent by the cooking apparatus. The described cooking apparatus control method and device, the computer device and the storage medium can control the cooking apparatus conveniently and intelligently, so that the cooking apparatus can intelligently complete a cooking operation without assistance to the operation from a human nearby the cooking apparatus, thereby effectively improving the working efficiency of the cooking apparatus.