Electronic oven with infrared evaluative control

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions to execute a computer-implemented method for heating an item in a chamber of an electronic oven towards a target state, the computer-implemented method comprising:

• heating the item with a first application of energy applied to the chamber while the electronic oven is in a first physical configuration;
• sensing a first response by the item to the first application of energy using an infrared sensor, wherein the sensing obtains a first set of sensor data corresponding to the first response;
• altering a physical property of the electronic oven to transition the electronic oven from the first physical configuration to a second physical configuration;
• heating the item with a second application of energy applied to the chamber while the electronic oven is in the second physical configuration;
• sensing a second response by the item to the second application of energy using the infrared sensor, wherein the sensing obtains a second set of sensor data corresponding to the second response;
• and
• generating a plan to heat the item in the chamber, wherein the generating is conducted by a control system of the electronic oven, and wherein the generating uses the first set of sensor data and the second set of sensor data;
• wherein the chamber of the electronic oven is motionless in both the first physical configuration and the second physical configuration;
• and
• wherein the first application of energy and the second application of energy are each longer than 0.5 seconds in duration.

An electronic oven comprising:

• a chamber for heating an item;
• a microwave energy source coupled to an injection port in the chamber;
• an infrared sensor;
• a control system that generates commands to transition the electronic oven between a set of physical configurations and to apply a set of applications of energy to the chamber using the microwave energy source when the electronic oven is in the set of physical configurations;
• and
• a memory storing instructions to:
• heat an item in the chamber with the set of applications of energy to the chamber while the electronic oven is in the set of physical configurations;
• sense, using the infrared sensor, sensor data that defines a respective set of responses by an item in the chamber to the set of applications of energy;
• and
• generate, using the sensor data, a plan to heat the item in the chamber;
• wherein the set of applications of energy and respective set of physical configurations define a respective set of variable distributions of energy in the chamber;
• wherein, during each application of energy in the set of applications of energy, a physical configuration in the set of physical configurations is held for at least 0.5 seconds;
• and
• wherein the set of physical configurations includes at least 5 distinct physical configurations.

A computer-implemented method for heating an item in a chamber of an electronic oven towards a target state comprising:

• heating the item with a set of applications of energy to the chamber while the electronic oven is in a respective set of configurations;
• sensing, using an infrared sensor, sensor data that defines a respective set of responses by the item to the set of applications of energy;
• and
• generating a plan to heat the item in the chamber, wherein the generating:
• (i) is conducted by a control system of the electronic oven;
• (ii) uses the sensor data;
• (iii) includes conducting an optimization analysis to produce an optimization output;
• and (iv) includes compiling a sequence of commands using the optimization output;
• wherein the optimization analysis uses:
• (i) a convex optimization solver;
• (ii) data representing the target state;
• and (iii) data representing the respective set of responses;
• and
• wherein the electronic oven executes the sequence of commands to heat the item towards the target state.