Self-Righting Cooking Sensor for Precise Bottom Temperature Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cooking devices lack user-friendly temperature measurement and regulation capabilities, especially in commercial kitchens, where precise temperature control is crucial but often complicated by the need to monitor the bottom of a cooking vessel or a liquid's temperature without manual adjustment.
Innovation Solution
A self-erecting, buoyant auxiliary cooking device with a temperature sensor and electronic circuit arrangement that automatically stands upright on a cooking vessel's base, allowing for wireless temperature data transmission and energy harvesting from induction hobs, ensuring components are protected from heat and enabling precise temperature control in various cooking conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the temperature sensor is placed directly on the bottom of the cooking vessel for accurate temperature measurement, then measurement precision is improved, but the electronic circuit arrangement and energy storage element are exposed to high temperatures which reduces reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into two functional segments: a heat-resistant lower section containing the temperature sensor that contacts the cooking vessel bottom, and an upper section housing the electronic circuit arrangement and energy storage element that remain protected from direct heat exposure. This spatial segmentation allows the sensor to measure bottom temperature accurately while keeping sensitive electronics in a cooler environment.
Solution Approach 2:
A thermally insulating intermediate structure is introduced between the temperature sensor and the electronic components. This intermediary element transmits the temperature measurement function while blocking heat transfer to the sensitive electronics, thus protecting them from thermal damage without compromising measurement accuracy.
2Ease of operation
If the auxiliary cooking device is designed to automatically stand upright for ease of use, then ease of operation is improved, but the device complexity increases due to the roly-poly mechanism
Solution Approach 1:
The device employs a self-righting mechanism inspired by roly-poly toys, where a weighted bottom section automatically returns the device to an upright position after being tilted or knocked over. This self-service feature eliminates the need for manual repositioning or complex active control systems, achieving ease of operation through a simple passive mechanical design.
Solution Approach 2:
A counterweight is positioned in the lower section of the device, creating a low center of gravity that provides automatic righting stability. This anti-weight principle ensures the device always returns to its upright operational position, simplifying user interaction without requiring complex control mechanisms.
3Ease of operation
If wireless data transmission is implemented for temperature monitoring, then ease of operation is improved, but energy consumption increases requiring larger energy storage elements
Solution Approach 1:
The wireless data transmission operates periodically rather than continuously, with the microcontroller transmitting temperature data at predetermined time intervals. This periodic action significantly reduces energy consumption compared to continuous transmission, allowing the use of smaller energy storage elements while still providing effective remote temperature monitoring.
Solution Approach 2:
The device maintains continuous temperature monitoring functionality through periodic measurements and transmissions, ensuring the cooking process is continuously tracked without requiring constant wireless communication. This approach preserves the useful action of temperature monitoring while minimizing energy expenditure on wireless transmission.
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
Facilitates easy, precise temperature measurement and regulation at the bottom of a cooking vessel or in liquid baths, ensuring accurate cooking results while protecting sensitive components from high temperatures, and allowing for hands-free operation in commercial kitchens.
Implementation Method 1
a temperature sensor (2) arranged in the region of a lowest point of the auxiliary cooking device (1) with which the auxiliary cooking device (1) touches the flat, horizontal base (29)
Implementation Method 2
data for controlling the temperature of a cooking vessel that can be heated by a hotplate can be transmitted wirelessly from the electronic circuit arrangement to a receiving unit
Implementation Method 3
energy harvesting from induction hobs
Implementation Method 4
The auxiliary cooking device can preferably be designed as a float
Implementation Method 5
Any change in the position of the auxiliary cooking device that deviates from the erected state leads to a raising of the center of gravity, so that the auxiliary cooking device is automatically erected again by the effective gravitational field of the earth
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
Auxiliary cooking device (1) with a temperature sensor (2) and an electronic circuit arrangement (3) to which an output value of the temperature sensor (2) is fed, the electronic circuit arrangement (3) sending data for controlling the temperature of a Cooking vessel (21) can be transmitted wirelessly to a receiving unit (23), the auxiliary cooking device (1) being designed in the manner of a roly-poly which stands upright on a flat, horizontal base (29) of the cooking vessel.