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US 2026/0272232 A1Published application
Autonomous food preparation system
AssigneeOtolabs Inc.
InventorsEeshaan Manjunaath Patil, Sayandip Roy
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The various embodiments disclosed herein relate to systems, apparatus and methods for autonomously assembling food bowls, including dispensing/adding food ingredients, and food preparation by heating. An autonomous food preparation system is provided herein. The autonomous food preparation system can comprise any one or more combinations of the following sub-assemblies: a bowl denester assembly; a paddle mechanism assembly; an autonomous dispensing assembly; and a heating assembly. The bowl denester assembly, paddle mechanism assembly, autonomous dispensing assembly, and heating assembly can be arranged above a conveyor track for a bowl to be conveyed upon, and so the food bowl can be prepared.
Claims20
An autonomous food preparation system, comprising:
- at least one autonomous dispensing assembly comprising:
- at least two canisters containing ingredients to be dispensed;
- at least two attachment members, wherein each attachment member is coupled to a corresponding canister;
- a base platform comprising a dispensing aperture, the base platform further comprising at least one canister mount for a corresponding canister, the base platform being in a fixed position, wherein the canister mount is coupled to the corresponding canister via the corresponding attachment member;
- each canister being coupled to a corresponding scoop mechanism assembly and a corresponding actuator, the corresponding scoop mechanism assembly being mounted on the base platform around the outer edge of the dispensing aperture, and wherein each scoop mechanism assembly comprises:
- a scoop-pusher slidably mounted to the base platform, the scoop-pusher removably engaging a scoop for holding a metered amount of ingredients;
- and
- the scoop having a blade edge interacting with the bottom opening of the corresponding canister to cut the metered amount of ingredients into the scoop;
- and
- a blocking plate for blocking a bottom opening of the scoop;
- the corresponding actuator being configured to actuate the corresponding scoop-pusher from a corresponding first position to a second position, the second position located above the dispensing aperture, and
- the scoop-pusher dispensing a metered amount of ingredients into the dispensing aperture by horizontally translating the ingredients away from the corresponding canister towards a dispensing location above the dispensing aperture;
- wherein a bowl is positioned under the dispensing aperture for receiving the ingredients dispensed during a dispensing period;
- and
- wherein the corresponding position of each of the at least two canisters, the bowl, and the dispensing aperture is fixed during the dispensing period;
- a controller coupled to each actuator, wherein the controller parallelizes the dispensing by actuating a first scoop-pusher corresponding to a first canister and a second scoop-pusher corresponding to a second canister, such that while the first scoop and the first scoop-pusher corresponding to the first canister begins returning to the corresponding first position, a second scoop and the second scoop-pusher of the corresponding second canister simultaneously travels to the second position to drop the ingredients into the bowl;
- and
- wherein the controller is configured to control one or more actuators to avoid collision of one or more scoops, and the control of the one or more actuators being determined based on one or more factors.
15 more elements
A method of autonomously dispensing ingredients into a bowl using an autonomous dispensing system,
- the autonomous dispensing system comprising at least one autonomous dispensing assembly comprising a base platform, the base platform comprising a dispensing aperture;
- the method comprising:
- mounting at least two scoop mechanism assemblies to the base platform around the outer edge of the dispensing aperture;
- coupling at least two canisters containing ingredients to be dispensed to a corresponding scoop mechanism assembly via a corresponding attachment member;
- for each of the at least two scoop mechanism assemblies, providing a scoop-pusher slidably mounted to the base platform, the scoop-pusher removably engaging a scoop for holding a metered amount of ingredients;
- the scoop having a blade edge interacting with the bottom opening of the corresponding canister to cut the metered amount of ingredients into the corresponding scoop;
- blocking a bottom opening of the scoop with a blocking plate;
- actuating the scoop pusher, by a corresponding actuator, to dispense a metered amount of ingredients into the dispensing aperture by horizontal translation of the ingredients away from a corresponding canister location to a dispensing location above the dispensing aperture;
- positioning a bowl under the dispensing aperture for receiving the ingredients dispensed;
- wherein a corresponding position of each of the at least two canisters, the bowl, and the dispensing aperture is fixed during the dispensing period;
- and
- parallelizing, by a controller coupled to the actuator, the dispensing by actuating a first scoop-pusher corresponding to a first canister and a second scoop-pusher corresponding to a second canister, such that while the first scoop and the first scoop-pusher corresponding to the first canister begins returning to the corresponding first position, a second scoop and the second scoop-pusher of the corresponding second canister simultaneously travels to the second position to drop the ingredients into the bowl;
- wherein the controller is configured to control one or more actuators to avoid collision of one or more scoops, and the control of the one or more actuators being determined based on one or more factors.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.