I-Corps: Consumer-based infrastructure for Kitchen Internet of Things (IoT)

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响和商业潜力涉及到我们烹饪、饮食、社交和组织生活方式的革命。在COVID-19时代，将厨房作为家庭“神经中枢”的技术对于保持我们的安全、联系和组织比以往任何时候都更加重要。“厨房物联网”将预测并简化购物需求和方式，同时使我们与社交网络的联系更加紧密，即使在隔离期间也是如此。这项技术将通过将用户需求自动化连接到非接触式交互来提高安全性，并通过卸载琐碎的任务来提高效率，使人类能够更多地专注于增值活动和创造性追求。该系统将为消费者提供便利，例如根据用户偏好和手头库存建议晚餐菜单，自动编制预算信息，甚至提供终身学习机会，独自或与朋友一起烹饪，锻炼等。这个I-Corps项目的重点是开发一个以家庭厨房为中心的基于消费者的物联网（IoT）基础设施和应用生态系统，以提高用户在选择和准备食物以及食品储藏室库存管理方面的便利性。基础设施包括内部开发的容器，其中包括温度、颜色、重量和体积传感器；显示信息反馈；射频、蓝牙、RFID、条码等双向通讯设施；以及广域互联网连接。这款原型应用程序可以与容器网络通信，并提供诸如自动维护库存和购物清单、食物即将过期提醒、推荐菜单创意和准备技巧等服务。该应用程序和支持容器建立在一个开放的架构上，可以与其他互联网控制的炊具一起扩展和定制，以增加基础设施并增强其他应用程序的便利性。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project involves a revolution in the way we cook, eat, socialize, and organize our lives. In the age of COVID-19, technologies that focus on the kitchen as the "nerve-center" of the home are more important than ever for keeping us safe, connected, and organized. The "Internet of Kitchen Things" will anticipate and streamline shopping needs and methods while enabling a tighter connection to our social networks, even in quarantine. This technology will improve safety by automating the connection of user needs to touchless interactions and improve efficiency by off-loading menial tasks, allowing humans to focus more on value-added actions and creative pursuits. The system will enable consumer conveniences, such as suggesting dinner menus based on user preferences and inventory on-hand, automatically compiling budget information, and even providing lifelong learning opportunities for cooking, exercise, etc. alone and with friends.This I-Corps project focuses on developing an ecosystem of consumer-based Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure and applications, centered on the home kitchen, for enhancing user convenience related to selection and preparation of meals, and pantry inventory management. The infrastructure involves in-house-developed containers, that include sensors for temperature, color, weight, and volume; displays for information feedback; bi-directional communication facilities such as RF, Bluetooth, RFID and barcode; and wide-area internet connectivity. The prototype app can communicate with the network of containers and provide services such as the automatic maintenance of inventories and shopping lists, reminders for food about to expire, and recommendations for menu ideas and preparation tips. The app and supporting containers are built on an open architecture that can be expanded and customized with other internet-controllable cookware to increase infrastructure and enhanced convenience for other applications.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.