Heating Cooker Image Recognition for Multi-Food Control Setting

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing heating cookers require complex operations for setting control details, especially when handling multiple foods, and previous solutions involve bothersome registration processes or manual temperature setting.

Innovation Solution

A heating cooker equipped with an imaging unit, setting unit, storage, notification unit, and controller that captures images of foods, associates them with pre-set heating control details, and automatically presents matching settings for similar foods, allowing easy input and automatic retrieval of heating control details.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If a user designates food and sets temperature manually, then heating control can be customized, but the operation becomes bothersome and complex

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveease of setting heating control detailsVSAvoidtime required for food registration and temperature setting
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs automatic image recognition of the food and automatically retrieves and presents corresponding heating control details from the database, eliminating the need for manual food designation and temperature setting. The notification unit then guides the user through minimal required inputs.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

2Adaptability or versatility

If multiple heating sources are provided for various cooking types, then cooking versatility is improved, but the operation for setting control details becomes complicated

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecooking versatilityVSAvoidcomplexity of control setting operation
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system uses image recognition to identify the food, automatically queries the database for appropriate heating control details based on the identified food type, and presents the relevant settings to the user. This feedback loop eliminates the need for users to navigate complex heating source selections manually.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

3Extent of automation

If image capture and registration are required for automatic cooking initiation, then cooking method selection is automated, but the registration process becomes bothersome

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveautomation of cooking method selectionVSAvoidease of food registration
Core Design Contradiction:
Extent of automationVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system automatically captures an image of the food using the imaging unit, performs image recognition to identify the food type, and automatically retrieves the corresponding heating control details from the database without requiring user intervention in the registration process.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Data Source

PatentEP3309459B1Heating cooker
Publication Date: 2019.11.06 PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO LTD
  • EP3309459B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3309459B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3309459B1 patent drawingFigure 3A~3B

AI summary

Provided are heating unit (102), imaging unit (106) that captures an image of an interior of a heating chamber, setting unit (107) that sets heating control details, and storage (108) that registers the captured image and the set heating control details in association with each other. Further provided are plural-article determination unit (109) that determines whether a plurality of types of foods are present, similarity determination unit (111) that determines a degree of similarity of a plurality of images, control detail identification unit (113) that identifies heating control details corresponding to a food included in a captured image in accordance with a determination result obtained by similarity determination unit (111), and controller (112). Controller (112) presents heating control details indicating each food on display unit (115) in accordance with a number of the foods. This configuration can provide a heating cooker capable of facilitating heating control setting.