Infrared sensor-based temperature control for domestic induction cooktops

In this paper, a precise real-time temperature control system based on infrared (IR) thermometry for domestic induction cooking is presented. The temperature in the vessel constitutes the control variable of the closed-loop power control system implemented in a commercial induction cooker. A proportional-integral controller is applied to establish the output power level in order to reach the target temperature. An optical system and a signal conditioning circuit have been implemented. For the signal processing a microprocessor with 12-bit ADC and a sampling rate of 1 Ksps has been used. The analysis of the contributions to the infrared radiation permits the definition of a procedure to estimate the temperature of the vessel with a maximum temperature error of 5 °C in the range between 60 and 250 °C for a known cookware emissivity. A simple and necessary calibration procedure with a black-body sample is presented

Inverse modeling of pan heating in domestic cookers

The heating uniformity of the cooking vessels in domestic stoves depends on the type of heat source (induction, electric resistance, gas burner, etc.) and of the way in which the power is transferred to the pan. The evaluation of the stove functionalities is currently carried out by the manufacturers with costly experimental tests with real food, which are an important phase of the design process for the improvement of their performance in the food elaboration. In order to help to design the cookers and avoid the expensive tests, it is interesting to know how the heating power is distributed in each situation, so that the cookers can be adapted to obtain a more uniform heating. The contribution of this work is an inverse thermal model for the three aforementioned technologies of domestic cookers, which allows the calculation of the power distribution generated in the bottom of the pan from the measurement of the surface temperature. The results show that the proposed inverse model is of interest in many practical situations and can be used under diverse conditions

Self-adaptive overtemperature protection materials for safety-centric domestic induction heating applications

Security aspects in the household sphere have become a major concern in modern societies. In particular, regardless of the technology used, users increasingly appreciate a protection system to prevent material damage in the case of human errors or distractions during the cooking process. This paper presents a sensorless method for detecting and limiting overtemperature, unique to induction cooktops, based on their specific features, such as automatic pot detection and load power factor estimation. The protection system exploits the change in the load material properties at certain temperatures, the effect of which may be enhanced by arranging a multilayer structure comprising a low Curie temperature alloy and an aluminum layer. The proposed multilayer load exhibits two differentiated states: a normal state, where the cookware is efficiently heated, and a protection state, above the safety temperature, where the power factor abruptly decreases, limiting the overheating and making the state easily detectable by the cooktop. This method of overtemperature self-protection uses the electronics of conventional induction cooktops; therefore, no other sensors or systems are required, reducing its complexity and costs. Simulation and experimental results are provided for several cookware designs, thereby proving the feasibility of this proposal

Evaluation of environmental impacts in the catering sector: the case of pasta

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Integrated Process Planning and Scheduling in Commercial Smart Kitchens

This paper describes the possibility of applying a generic, cloud-based Optimisation as a Service facility to food cooking planning and scheduling in a commercial kitchen. We propose a chromosome encoding and customisation of the classic MOEA/D multi-objective genetic algorithm. The applicability of the proposed approach is evaluated experimentally for two scenarios different with respect to the number of cooking appliances and the amount of the ordered food. The proposed system managed to determine the trade-offs between cooking time, energy dissipation and food quality

Building up Steam as Consumers: Women, Rice Cookers and the Consumption of Everyday Household Goods in Japan

This chapter discusses the increasingly important role played by women as everyday consumers in post-war Japan, focusing on their consumption of household and kitchen appliances, specifically the electric rice cooker. Two key areas are explored. First, I investigate the development, production and consumption of this appliance. The electric rice cooker was developed by Japanese manufacturers from the mid-1950s, and was at the time unique to the Japanese manufacturing sector and the Japanese consumer market. It rapidly achieved significance in both domestic and export markets.1 The analysis will focus on the rice cooker’s development and impact in the Japanese market during the post-war years as a key example of the importance of everyday household appliances in the history of gender and consumption in Japan, impacting on women’s roles inside and outside the home. The chapter will show that although the rice cooker was in many ways a humble product, it had a revolutionary impact on Japanese women’s primary role as housewives. Second, the chapter places the case-study of the rice cooker within a broader context, discussing the role played by Japanese women as key consumers of appliances and as a gendered consumer group. It will explore the significance of housewives as a consumer group in Japan during the post-war decades, the associated gendering of consumer practices, and the extent to which housewives, as the holders of the purse-strings within the Japanese nuclear household, were empowered by the establishment of the breadwinner-homemaker model

Clean cooking for every ‘body’: Including people with disabilities in modern energy cooking services in the global south

Clean cooking solutions, with greater access to cleaner and safer cooking fuels than traditional energy sources, are key to ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy services for all. However, the needs of the 1 billion people living with disabilities globally who face disproportionate levels of poverty, poor access to nutrition, and challenges with buying and preparing food, have been neglected from discussions around the expansion of access to clean cooking across low- and middle-income countries. Drawing on academic and grey literature and informal discussions with disability and energy sector experts, this paper calls for the inclusion of people with disabilities in the transition to clean cooking, highlighting the potential benefits that this can bring. Including people with disabilities in clean cooking can improve the nutritional and economic status of their households, facilitate their independence, provide routes for inclusive technological innovation, and improve the health of people with disabilities. People with disabilities need to be included in the expansion of access to clean cooking. Engaging people with disabilities as champions of clean cooking, involving organisations of disabled persons, engaging disabled men and boys as well as disabled women, and linking to global resources such as social media are pivotal to widening access to clean cooking. Involving people with disabilities in clean cooking can ensure that every ‘body’ is part of efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 7

Cooktop Sensing Based on a YOLO Object Detection Algorithm

Deep Learning (DL) has provided a significant breakthrough in many areas of research and industry. The development of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) has enabled the improvement of computer vision-based techniques, making the information gathered from cameras more useful. For this reason, recently, studies have been carried out on the use of image-based DL in some areas of people’s daily life. In this paper, an object detection-based algorithm is proposed to modify and improve the user experience in relation to the use of cooking appliances. The algorithm can sense common kitchen objects and identify interesting situations for users. Some of these situations are the detection of utensils on lit hobs, recognition of boiling, smoking and oil in kitchenware, and determination of good cookware size adjustment, among others. In addition, the authors have achieved sensor fusion by using a cooker hob with Bluetooth connectivity, so it is possible to automatically interact with it via an external device such as a computer or a mobile phone. Our main contribution focuses on supporting people when they are cooking, controlling heaters, or alerting them with different types of alarms. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time a YOLO algorithm has been used to control the cooktop by means of visual sensorization. Moreover, this research paper provides a comparison of the detection performance among different YOLO networks. Additionally, a dataset of more than 7500 images has been generated and multiple data augmentation techniques have been compared. The results show that YOLOv5s can successfully detect common kitchen objects with high accuracy and fast speed, and it can be employed for realistic cooking environment applications. Finally, multiple examples of the identification of interesting situations and how we act on the cooktop are presented.The current study has been sponsored by the Government of the Basque Country-ELKARTEK21/10 KK-2021/00014 (“Estudio de nuevas técnicas de inteligencia artificial basadas en Deep Learning dirigidas a la optimización de procesos industriales”) and ELKARTEK23-DEEPBASK (“Creación de nuevos algoritmos de aprendizaje profundo aplicado a la industria”) research programmes