Thermal Image Camera Boil-Over Detection for Cookware Monitoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for detecting boiling over in cookware, such as electromagnetic cooking heaters, either fail to prevent boiling over from occurring or are impractical due to limitations in temperature sensing and sensor installation, especially with cookware having low thermal conductivity like stainless steel pots.
Innovation Solution
A cooking support system that uses a thermal image camera to monitor cookware from an oblique angle, calculating changes in the content level and transmitting notifications to prevent boiling over by adjusting the cooking heater's output or stopping the cooking operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a weight detector is equipped to an electromagnetic cooking heater to detect boiling over, then boiling over detection is enabled, but the detection can only occur after actual boiling over has happened, requiring cleanup
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses thermal image cameras to perform preliminary detection of boiling over conditions before they actually occur. By monitoring temperature distribution and content level changes in advance, the system can alert users beforehand, allowing them to take preventive action and avoid the need for cleanup of boiled-over food
2Measurement precision
If temperature sensors are installed in cookware to detect boiling over, then early detection is possible, but it becomes impractical especially with cookware having low thermal conductivity like stainless steel pots
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a thermal image camera as an intermediary device that non-contactly measures the temperature distribution of cookware and its contents. This eliminates the need for direct sensor installation in the cookware, making the system compatible with any material including low thermal conductivity materials like stainless steel, while still achieving accurate temperature monitoring
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical contact-based temperature sensors with non-contact thermal imaging technology. This substitution allows temperature measurement without physical penetration or attachment to the cookware, thereby solving the installation feasibility issue while maintaining measurement precision
3Reliability
If conventional detection methods are used, then boiling over can be detected, but the detection occurs too late to prevent the actual boiling over and potential damage
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary monitoring of temperature distribution and content level changes using thermal image cameras. By analyzing trends and patterns before boiling over actually occurs, the system provides advance warning to users, enabling them to take preventive action and avoid the harmful effects of boiling over
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where thermal image data is continuously monitored and analyzed. When the system detects patterns indicating impending boiling over, it provides feedback to the user through alerts or notifications, allowing real-time intervention to prevent the actual boiling over event
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
Effectively prevents boiling over by accurately detecting content level changes in cookware regardless of material, reducing cleanup efforts and improving cooking safety.
Implementation Method 1
acquiring, through the network from the thermal image camera, a thermal image of a region including cookware
Data Source
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AI summary
A cooking support method for a cooking support system, for supporting cooking by a user, connected through a network to a thermal image camera installed to take, from obliquely above the cookware, a thermal image of a region including a cookware during cooking and to a notification device capable of notifying the user of information includes: acquiring a thermal image of the region including the cookware at predetermined time intervals from the thermal image camera through the network; calculating a value indicating a change in level of a content in the cookware from the acquired thermal image; and determining whether the calculated value is not less than a predetermined threshold, determining that the content will possibly boil over the cookware when the calculated value is determined as not less than the predetermined threshold, and transmitting notification information to notify the user of the possibility of boil-over to the notification device.