A Linux-powered microwave oven

Posted Feb 11, 2016 5:40 UTC (Thu) by roskegg (subscriber, #105)
In reply to: A Linux-powered microwave oven by df5ea
Parent article: A Linux-powered microwave oven

That's a great idea, very simple to "tare" off the empty weight of the oven.

A Linux-powered microwave oven

Posted Feb 11, 2016 6:59 UTC (Thu) by ernest (guest, #2355) [Link] (4 responses)

Except that people put things on top of the oven too. Even temporarily while they wait for the cooking to finish.

A Linux-powered microwave oven

Posted Feb 11, 2016 7:31 UTC (Thu) by felixfix (subscriber, #242) [Link] (3 responses)

That might not be much of a problem. All it really needs to know is the weights the instant the door opens and closes. Weight changes with the door closed can't have anything to do with the food inside. There's probably more error coming from container weight.

A Linux-powered microwave oven

Posted Feb 11, 2016 20:34 UTC (Thu) by iabervon (subscriber, #722) [Link] (1 responses)

I bring my bowl of soup over to the microwave, but to open the door, I need a free hand, and I don't want to spill the soup, so I put the bowl down on the microwave, open the door, put the bowl inside the microwave, close the door, and the microwave tells me it doesn't weigh anything.

I think the points where the internals are mounted to the case might be the best place to measure, although any of these clever measurement locations depends on having a connection that's both secure and measures pressure.

A Linux-powered microwave oven

Posted Feb 12, 2016 16:14 UTC (Fri) by flussence (guest, #85566) [Link]

All it has to do is measure the absolute difference between the last two steady-state weights. That's not computationally demanding; my bathroom scales (the non-internet-connected red-LED-digits variety) can do it.

A Linux-powered microwave oven

Posted Feb 12, 2016 16:53 UTC (Fri) by drag (guest, #31333) [Link]

> All it really needs to know is the weights the instant the door opens and closes.

You have to touch the machine in order to make that happening. You can't weigh something accurately as people are manipulating it.