Heating Cooker Image Recognition for Multi-Food Setting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing heating cookers require complex operations for setting control details, especially when handling multiple foods, and users must manually register or set temperatures for each dish, making the process cumbersome.
Innovation Solution
A heating cooker with an imaging unit that captures images of the food, a setting unit for controlling heating details, a storage for associating images with control settings, and a notification unit that automatically reads and presents pre-set control details for similar foods, allowing easy input and adjustment of heating settings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple heating sources and cooking types are provided to achieve wide variety of cooking, then heating versatility is improved, but operation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically captures images of the food, identifies it through image recognition, and retrieves corresponding heating control details from storage without requiring manual user input. The notification unit then presents the appropriate settings automatically, allowing the system to serve itself in the information gathering and presentation process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical operations (touching display images, pressing buttons to set temperatures) with an automated image recognition and notification system. The imaging unit captures visual data, the controller processes this data to identify food types, and the notification unit presents control details, substituting the mechanical interaction system with an automated visual recognition and communication system.
2Manufacturing precision
If manual food registration and temperature setting are required for each dish, then heating precision is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-stores heating control details for various food types in the storage unit. When food is placed in the heating chamber, the imaging unit captures an image and the controller automatically retrieves the corresponding pre-stored control details, eliminating the need for real-time manual setting while maintaining precise heating control.
Solution Approach 2:
The notification unit serves as an intermediary between the image recognition system and the user. It receives the identified food information from the controller and presents the appropriate heating control details in a user-friendly manner, bridging the gap between automated recognition and user interaction.
3Ease of operation
If image capture and automatic recognition are implemented for multiple foods, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The imaging unit and controller serve multiple functions: capturing images of food, identifying food types through image recognition, determining the number of food items, and retrieving corresponding heating control details. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate dedicated components for each task.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the image capture function, image recognition processing, and control details retrieval into an integrated system. The controller centralizes the processing of image data and coordination with the storage unit and notification unit, merging multiple operations into a unified control mechanism.
4Productivity
If heating control details are automatically presented based on image recognition, then productivity is improved, but measurement precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system presents heating control details for the identified food type even if the image recognition is not perfectly precise. The notification unit displays the control details corresponding to the recognized food, allowing the user to verify and adjust if needed, rather than requiring absolute precision for automatic execution.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided are a heating unit, an imaging unit that captures an image of an interior of a heating chamber, a setting unit that sets heating control details, and a storage that registers the captured image and the set heating control details in association with each other. Further provided area plural-article determination unit that determines whether a plurality of types of foods are present, a similarity determination unit that determines a degree of similarity of a plurality of images, a control detail identification unit that identifies heating control details corresponding to a food included in a captured image in accordance with a determination result obtained by the similarity determination unit, and a controller. The controller presents heating control details indicating each food on a display unit in accordance with a number of the foods. This configuration can provide a heating cooker capable of facilitating heating control setting.