Thermotron Stovetop

The Thermotron cooktop looks like your average cooktop, resistance elements or gas burners arranged in the conventional fashion, but with a small twist. In the center of each burner there is a small insulated tube. This tube is spring loaded so placing a pan on the surface forms a small circle of pan insulated from the direct heat of the burner. Below this is mounted an interferometer that measures the temperature of the surface directly in the middle of this ring. The interferometer is far from the heat, mess and violence of the stovetop. The diameter of the insulated area is designed to approximate the mass insulation between the bottom and the top of a conventional pan. Data from the sensor should roughly proximate to cooking conditions. This data is fed to an adaptive fuzzy logic thermostat similar to the ones found in HVAC systems. It would attempt to regulate the surface to a preset temperature and then adapt to user adjustments to the dials in a proportional manner (saute' on high, simmer on low,) If the sensor sensed an out of range value (no pan, pan on fire) the system would shut down the burner and trigger an alarm. Since the computer would operate adaptively calibration would be done using the users input; turning the dial downward always achieves a lower temperature, upward always a higher. The response rate of individual pans would be set with a learned theta value for each cook cycle, rate of heat response sets the slope for the lambda ramp for increases and decreases in detected temperature: Cast iron gets the blowtorch treatment, plated aluminum gets a less aggressive response or what have you, but ADAPTIVE in every case. A "boil" button would use these standards to quickly achieve and maintain a steady boil. Gas stoves would require duty cycle regulators, electric ranges could use a more conventional potentiometer. I suspect that this would add around 250$(US) to the price of construction but that that would be easily offset by the gourmet and "gee wiz" factors. Upgrades include the "Master Saucier", "Soup Genie" and "Waffle Wizard" addons.