System and method for detecting food items and managing cooking timers on a cooktop appliance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional over-the-range appliances lack interactive features for monitoring cooking times, making it difficult to manage multiple food items being cooked simultaneously, as users need to manually set and reset timers, leading to confusion and inefficiency.
Innovation Solution
An over-the-range appliance equipped with a camera assembly that captures images of the cooktop surface, analyzes them to identify food items, and initiates timers based on their cooking durations, allowing for automated and synchronized cooking time management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual timers are used for each food item, then cooking time can be tracked, but device complexity and user confusion increase when managing multiple food items
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically detects food items using image recognition and initiates timers without user intervention. The camera captures images of the cooktop, identifies food items and their quantities, and automatically sets appropriate cooking times, eliminating the need for users to manually manage multiple timers.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical timer setting with an automated optical detection system. The camera assembly captures images, image processing algorithms identify food items, and the controller automatically manages timing, substituting manual operation with automated visual recognition and digital control.
2Reliability
If users manually set and reset timers for multiple food items, then cooking times can be monitored, but ease of operation deteriorates due to frequent timer adjustments
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-service by automatically detecting when food items are placed on the cooktop and initiating appropriate timers. Users simply place food on the cooktop, and the system handles timer setting, monitoring, and management without requiring user interaction.
Solution Approach 2:
The camera continuously monitors the cooktop surface and provides feedback to the controller about food item presence and quantity. This feedback loop enables the system to automatically adjust and manage timers based on real-time detection of cooking conditions.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of monitoring a cooking process using an over-the-range appliance mountable over a cooktop appliance having a cooktop surface includes obtaining an image of the cooktop surface, analyzing the image to identify a first food item positioned on the cooktop surface, and initiating a first timer having a first duration associated with the first food item. The method further includes identifying a second food item and initiating a second timer, receiving user input regarding the duration of the timers for particular food products, or other commands related to the timers.