Re: Opto-22 Bakes Cakes!
Where's Your Opto 22?
Opto-22 Bakes Cakes!
bakermark
04-06-2005, 6:25 AM
I work for a large home appliance manufacture and we were developing a new freestanding range and needed to test different cooking performance algorithms. We had a lot of older OptoMux digital/analog hardware lying around that we ended up using to control a prototype oven. We used some digital modules to control relays that could turn bake and broil elements off and on and some T/C analog hardware to monitor the temperature of the oven. A electric freestanding range uses a broil element (provides top heat) and a bake element (provides bottom heat). By cycling these elements independently or together, one can create many different heating “patterns” in an oven. The best cycling algorithm will “balance” the heat in an oven to provide even baking results for food items like cookies, cakes, pizza, and other food items that might be sensitive to top or bottom heat in a oven. We controlled the hardware with an old software program called Paragon 500 and developed a simple controlling program that would cycle the element(s) at a specified rate. We used the T/C inputs to monitor the temperature in the oven and also to control the turning off and on of the elements to create a constant temperature setting. Temperature settings could be anywhere from 150F to 500F and simulate exactly what the end customer would “see” when they set their oven to say 425F and bake a pizza. Along the way we baked loads of cookies, cakes, broiled steaks, frozen pizza’s, and many other food items. Opto-22 hardware certainly contributed to the success of this project, but also added a few extra pounds to some of the engineers and technicians working on this project!! Who would have ever thought that Opto-22 could cook food!!!
Re: Opto-22 Bakes Cakes!
gnardizzi
12-12-2006, 11:14 AM
Awesome!!