Kitchen Vision Assistant for Grill Item Tracking and Timing
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Solution Overview
Problem
In commercial kitchen environments, human workers often face challenges with precision and consistency in food preparation, leading to cooking errors and inefficiencies due to the complexity of managing multiple orders and recipes.
Innovation Solution
An automated kitchen assistant system utilizing a combination of cameras and sensors to inspect the food preparation area, determine the identity and position of food items, and track their location, with the ability to command a robotic arm or instruct a human worker to perform specific steps in food preparation, enhancing precision and efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If human workers manually manage multiple orders and food preparation steps, then flexibility in handling diverse recipes is maintained, but precision and consistency in food preparation deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical system of human workers manually tracking and executing food preparation steps with an automated computer vision system using cameras, sensors, and machine learning algorithms to detect, track, and monitor food items throughout the preparation process, thereby improving precision while managing complexity through automation
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables food preparation to become self-servicing by using automated detection and tracking mechanisms that independently monitor food items, track their state changes, and provide real-time information without requiring constant human intervention or manual tracking for each order
2Productivity
If human workers carry out multiple orders in parallel based on experience, then adaptability to varying order volumes is maintained, but efficiency and error rate deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements continuous feedback loops where cameras and sensors constantly monitor food preparation status, track cooking times, and provide real-time data to the system controller, which automatically adjusts and alerts workers about the state of multiple orders, improving both efficiency and reliability through automated monitoring and error prevention
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-tracking food items from the moment they are placed on preparation surfaces, automatically recording their identity, position, and state before actual preparation begins, allowing the system to proactively manage multiple orders and predict when interventions are needed
3Manufacturing precision
If automated systems are introduced to improve precision, then manufacturing precision improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs multi-functional cameras and sensors that serve multiple purposes: detecting food item identity, tracking position, monitoring preparation state, and providing data for timing and coordination, thereby achieving high precision while reducing overall system complexity through universal components that perform multiple functions
Data Source
AI summary
An automated kitchen assistant system inspects a food preparation area in the kitchen environment using a plurality of sensors or cameras. A trained model computes the identity and the location of the food item. In embodiments, the food items are on a grill, and the automated kitchen assistant system is operable to compute the time remaining to remove or flip each of the food items. The output may further be utilized to command a robotic arm, kitchen worker, or otherwise assist in food preparation. Related methods are also described.