Embedded system device creation: professional oven design case history

THE SCENARIO:

Professional cooking can be considered as one of the markets segments that, par excellence, requires at the same time a large number of products which grants high-quality food in short timings: restaurants and the catering sector in general, including companies' and hotels' canteens, increasingly need quick access and management of their tools, since they operate in a particular fast-moving world.

Cooks and kitchen managers, therefore, need a design concept exclusively dedicated to their habits and uses including the possibility to configure and import their default settings which are designed considering their most recurring tasks.

THE CONTEXT:

To achieve this project goal, the Customer developed a product mainly based and focused on the end-user experience. 

The first key feature is a simple and accurate interface: nowadays smartphone-like metaphor is becoming increasingly pervasive and strongly focuses on displays' responsiveness and pleasantness, thus preferring the union of just graphics and touch to the classic knobs and buttons solutions. The graphic screen with animations, icons, and shortcuts, behaves like an actual display interface. Contents are organizable and manageable through this type of GUI (Graphical User interface), defining the appropriate cuisine setting for the dish inserted in the cooking compartment: temperature, cooking time and modes, heating elements, employed accessories (e.g. steam or fans), and end alarms can be included in a pre-configured recipe. The second key feature, therefore, is a flexible database capable of containing hundreds of recipes, both predefined and specially created by the final user: the expert.

DAVE Embedded Systems' KEY ROLE:

DAVE Embedded Systems had a fundamental part within this innovative and modern project by designing the complex electronic system that manages the GUI integrated on the final product with its proven and recognized expertise and care. The knowledge of advanced platforms and SOC (System On Chip) allowed the creation of a powerful GUI directly integrated within the final product.

The predisposition to follow the project from the concept to the complete realization and testing has once again proved successful. Starting from the design specifications of the customer, DAVE Embedded Systems has been able to adapt to the needs of the project using the AXEL ULITE module.

For further information about this module, please check the link https://www.dave.eu/products/som/freescale/imx6UL_axel-ulite

ABOUT THE CUSTOMER:

The Company operates in the professional Kitchen sector with the aim to create household appliances for professional use. They were looking for very responsive partners to support them throughout the entire design phase. One of the main challenges of this project is that the user interaction system must be precise and powerful but at the same time reactive and easy to understand.

The support offered by DAVE Embedded Systems allowed creating a complete product, since the module designed for this purpose is not a simple off the shelf solution, but is directly integrated within the final result itself, guaranteeing the customer a farther more precise and efficient service that can be easily spent on the professional market.

APPLICATION BLOCK DIAGRAM:

The functionalities of this system can be graphically represented as follows:

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AXEL Ulite - i.MX6UL

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