Food preparation system

{
  "publication_number": "US11229311B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Food preparation system",
  "abstract": "A food preparation system and method include: triggering image capturing of a camera to obtain one or more images of a food support platform while the food support platform supports a first food item; performing ingredient recognition for the first food item, including: classifying a feature tensor of a respective image in a general classifier to identify one or more first-level food ingredient categories corresponding to the first food item; and classifying the feature tensor of the respective image in a respective detailed classifier corresponding to each of the one or more first-level food ingredient categories to identify a corresponding second-level food ingredient category corresponding to the first food item, wherein the second-level food ingredient category is a sub-category of said each first-level food ingredient category; and, adjusting one or more heating units for heating the first food item in accordance with the ingredient recognition that has been performed.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A food preparation system, comprising: a food support platform configured to support food; a camera with a field of view directed to the food support platform; one or more heating units that are configured to heat food placed on the food support platform; and a food preparation control unit for controlling the camera and the one or more heating units, the food preparation control unit including one or more processors and memory storing instructions, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors cause the processors to perform operations comprising: triggering image capturing of the camera to obtain one or more images of the food support platform while the food support platform supports a first food item; performing ingredient recognition for the first food item based on the one or more images of the food support platform, including: classifying a feature tensor of a respective image of the one or more images in a general classifier to identify one or more first-level food ingredient categories corresponding to the first food item; and classifying the feature tensor of the respective image in a respective detailed classifier corresponding to each of the one or more first-level food ingredient categories to identify a corresponding second-level food ingredient category corresponding to the first food item, wherein the second-level food ingredient category is a sub-category of said each first-level food ingredient category; and, adjusting the one or more heating units for heating the first food item in accordance with the ingredient recognition that has been performed.",
    "2. The food preparation system of claim 1, wherein the operations include: monitoring content in the field of view of the camera; and detecting a change in the field of view of the camera during the monitoring, wherein triggering image capturing of the camera to obtain the one or more images of the food support platform includes capturing a series of images over a period of time in response to detecting the change in the field of view of the camera.",
    "3. The food preparation system of claim 2, wherein the operations include: prior to performing ingredient recognition for the first food item based on the one or more images of the food support platform, filtering each respective image of the one or more images of the food support platform using a baseline image captured before the first food item is placed on the food support platform.",
    "4. The food preparation system of claim 1, wherein classifying the feature tensor of the respective image of the one or more images in the general classifier to identify one or more first-level food ingredient categories corresponding to the first food item further includes: sorting the one or more first-level food ingredient categories based on a respective food quantity corresponds to each of the one or more first-level food ingredient categories that have been identified for the first food item; and selecting a predefined number of first-level food ingredient categories from the one or more first-level food ingredient categories for performing the classification using the respective detailed classifier corresponding to each of the predefined number of first-level food ingredient categories.",
    "5. The food preparation system of claim 4, wherein the operations further include: identifying a first food recipe that includes the respective second-level food ingredient categories that are identified for the predefined number of first-level food ingredient categories; and determining additional ingredients of the first food item based on the first food recipe, wherein the additional ingredients are not among the respective second-level food ingredient categories that are identified for the predefined number of first-level food ingredient categories.",
    "6. The food preparation system of claim 5, wherein the operations further include: determining nutritional information for the first food item based on the respective second-level food ingredient categories that are identified for the predefined number of first-level food ingredient categories and the additional ingredients identified based on the first food recipe.",
    "7. The food preparation system of claim 5, wherein the operations further include: identify a second food recipe that includes the respective second-level food ingredient categories that are identified for the predefined number of first-level food ingredient categories; comparing nutritional information for the first food recipe and the second food recipe; and providing a recommendation for adjusting cooking method based on the comparison of the nutritional information for the first food recipe and the second food recipe."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "The present disclosure relates to the field of home appliances, and in particular, to a food preparation method and system based on ingredient recognition.\n\nConventional electric food preparation systems, such as microwave ovens, stove tops, toaster ovens, electric cookers, ovens, and steamers, etc. rely on manual inputs for cooking temperatures and cooking duration specification. These conventional systems require the user to possess a substantial amount of knowledge and experience regarding how different food ingredients of a dish should be heated and cooked to the right level of doneness without compromising food safety requirements. Some newer models of electric food preparation systems allow a user to select from a few preset food options, and adjust cooking time and power level according to the user's selections. However, such preset selection menu is either too limited for the wide variety of food that a user might wish to cook, or too extensive making it difficult to navigate.\n\nAs people are more interested in improving health and style of living, the quality and nutritional values of the food that people consume become more and more important to them. Some applications on smart devices provide databases of food ingredients and their corresponding nutritional information. However, such applications typically require the user to enter the names of the food ingredient and the quantity for each ingredient in order to provide the corresponding nutritional values. The process is cumbersome and inefficient, severely limiting the utility of such applications.",
  "cpc": [
    "A47J 36/321",
    "A47J 27/00",
    "A47J 29/00",
    "A47J 33/00",
    "B25J 9/00",
    "F24C 7/082",
    "G05B 19/42"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "A47J 27/00",
    "A47J 29/00",
    "A47J 33/00",
    "A47J 36/32",
    "B25J 9/00",
    "G05B 19/42"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "Midea Group Co Ltd"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Liang DIAO",
    "Haisong Gu"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2018-12-21",
  "publication_date": "2022-01-25",
  "grant_date": "2022-01-25",
  "priority_date": "2017-12-30",
  "application_number": "US-201816230815-A",
  "family_id": "67057825",
  "cited_by_count": 2,
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}