A contactless lifestyle that allows for information input and operation of devices without physical contact.
Fig.1. Smart Kitchen
There are often situations where one hesitates to operate devices due to wet or greasy hands. KODENSHI has developed a Smart Kitchen solution to address this issue, leveraging our proprietary sensor technology. This Smart Kitchen allows users to interact with airborne images on a touch screen. Through this interaction, users can remotely control various household appliances such as lighting, induction cooktops, ventilation fans, and even functions like turning kitchen faucets on/off or adjusting water flow – all without the need for physical contact. This innovation promotes a non-contact lifestyle.
While the prevailing trend in IoT involves using smartphone-based smart remotes, which often rely on voice commands or manual input, these methods can be challenging for older individuals. The smart kitchen, however, is built on the concept of delivering an intuitive and user-friendly experience. It incorporates convenient features that developers themselves would desire to use, resulting in a kitchen that embodies a sense of the future.
・Sensors replace human senses in detecting factors such as temperature, humidity, and illumination.
・Automatically detects before individuals become aware.
・Operates using intuitive gestures.
2. Key Technology
At KODENSHI, we are developing infrared distance sensors, photo interrupters, thermopiles, and other optical sensors. These sensors can detect distance between objects and sensors, presence of objects, temperature, and more through non-contact means. By applying these sensors, it's possible to perform contactless operations such as toggling lights and faucets on/off, as well as adjusting their intensity or volume. Moreover, changes in the transmitted or reflected light intensity of target objects can also be used to determine the extent of dirt or contamination. In the Smart Kitchen, these sensors are employed to detect finger and hand movements and positions, enabling actions like flipping recipe pages, controlling faucets and lights, adjusting water flow or light brightness, and detecting dirt on ventilation fan filter.
3. Main Features of Smart Kitchen
This section highlights the main features of a smart kitchen.
3-1. Contactless Faucet
Fig.2. Contactless Faucet
Through contactless operation, it is possible to control functions such as turning the faucet On/Off, switching between cold and hot water, and adjusting water flow. This is achieved by utilizing an infrared distance sensor that detects the distance between an object and the sensor. Specifically, this sensor detects the position of the user's hand, enabling the On/Off operation of the faucet. The flow rate is then adjusted based on the distance between the sensor and the hand.
For more detailed product information of infrared distance sensor, please click here.
3-2. Aerial interface and operation
Fig.3. Contactless operation devices
Recently, a combination of aerial display technology, which projects images in mid-air, and detection technology using distance sensors has been proposed. This proposal aims to create touchless touch panels or buttons that enable easy information input on displayed panels in mid-air, where there is no physical contact.
These devices not only demonstrate eye-catching appeal but also offer the following advantages:
・They allow for hygienic operation as there is no physical contact with objects.
・They can be operated even with dirty hands or while wearing gloves.
We propose these solutions for public spaces, shopping malls, amusement facilities, and in environments where hygiene is essential, such as healthcare facilities and food processing plants.
Fig.4. Aerial interface and operation
In the smart kitchen, these devices are utilized to perform demonstrations such as controlling lighting On/Off, adjusting color and brightness, temperature modulation of water, playing videos, and flipping pages of cooking recipes.
3-3. Dirt detection of ventilation fan filter
Fig.5. Dirt detection of ventilation fan filter
This section explains the function in which a sensor detects the dirtiness of the ventilation fan's filter and provides notifications about the timing for replacement. A reflective-type photointerrupter is employed for this detection. The reflective-type photointerrupter detects objects by receiving the light beam emitted from the sensor, which is then reflected off the object. This enables it to detect the presence or absence of the object, as well as changes in reflectivity. In this case, the object is the filter of the ventilation fan. As the ventilation fan is used over time, the filter gradually accumulates dirt, causing changes in its reflectivity. By detecting fluctuations in the intensity of the reflected light, the sensor can determine the extent of contamination of the filter and indicate when replacement is needed.
For more detailed product information of reflective-type photointerrupter, please click here.
3-4. Promotional lighting LED
Fig.6. Promotional lighting LED
Promotional lighting LEDs are LEDs designed to enhance objects' visual appearance in the most suitable way. By controlling color and spectrum, they create an optimal light source tailored to each object. KODENSHI has developed such LEDs for fresh food. In smart kitchens, these LEDs are installed in refrigerators to create better impression of freshness for displayed food items.
LEDs that emphasize red tones to make meat look fresher.
LEDs that highlight green tones to give vegetables a fresh appearance.
LEDs that accentuate blue tones to make fish look fresher.
For more detailed product information of KODENSHI's LED, please click here.
3-5. Temperature detection
Fig.7. Temperature detection in a refrigerator
Thermopile temperature sensor is an optical sensor that detects temperature without contact. It absorbs infrared radiation emitted from humans or objects using a silicon device with MEMS structure, and measures the resulting temperature difference as a voltage using a thermopile (a combination of multiple thermoelectric couples) and calculates it as temperature information. We develop multiple products tailored to different applications such as human detection, high-temperature detection, and an array-type thermopile that integrates thermopiles and can detect temperature distribution in 2D.
In a smart kitchen, this sensor is used to detect the temperature of the food inside the refrigerator.
For more detailed product information of thermopile temperature sensor, please click here.
4. Smart Kitchen in Kyoto, Japan
Fig.8. Smart Kitchen in Kyoto
This smart kitchen has been developed as a demonstration kit showcasing the applications of optical sensors. KODENSHI, located in Kyoto, Japan, has a permanent exhibition of this kit. If you're interested, please feel free to come and visit.