My kettle switches itself off automatically when the water boils, so I can switch it on and go do something else.

If I boil the water in a saucepan on the stove (or indeed cook anything in a saucepan), I have no such safeguards, so I have to hover uselessly over the pan when I could be coming up with ideas for halfbakery.

Introducing... the smart saucepan lid. A small camera mounted in the centre of the lid of a saucepan looks straight down at whatever's cooking in the pot. The camera feeds to a small computer (maybe small enough to integrate, or mounted in the stove) that is capable of recognising various conditions, such as 'boiling', 'burning', 'browning', based on movement, colour, sound and temperature.

You could then select the condition you wanted to monitor by pressing a single button, and turn the stove on. The lid would then beep loudly when the required condition was sensed.

[edit] mounting the computer in the stove would allow one computer to manage multiple pans.
-- bumhat, Jan 20 2006

A bun that was pulled from the oven when it reached the correct color.
-- normzone, Jan 20 2006


what about steam fogging up the lenses of the cameras?
-- Michael00, Jan 26 2006


I like the application, but not the method. Shirley a temperature based sensor would be more sensible as a primary indicator? Maybe an optical thermal device?
-- yamahito, Jan 26 2006


So - not an exquisitely tailored pinstripe pan lid then?
-- wagster, Jan 26 2006


Some of the sensing could also come from below the pot. A thermal imager should be able to detect a number of conditions, such as boiling, boiling over, burning.
-- Galbinus_Caeli, Jan 26 2006


There used to be an idea around here for a set of "Pot Watcher" eyeballs to prevent things from boiling. Seems to be gone now. I found only a link to nowhere when I searched for it.
-- half, Jan 26 2006


You know those knob things on your stove that have words on them like "hi", "med", "low", "simmer", "warm"? I use those to regulate the heat when I am cooking and never have to hover over a pan or pot. I have discovered that the correct usage of those knobs keeps things from burning, scorching or boiling over.
-- DVineMissEva, Jan 26 2006


of course you could heat your food in the kettle.
-- po, Jan 26 2006


Or the toaster.
-- moomintroll, Jan 26 2006


soup?
-- po, Jan 26 2006


could broadcast images, as in crime scene reports "Have you seen this sausage before? was it acting suspiciously ? did it wear a wrapper? were there any eggs with it.....?"
-- xenzag, Jan 26 2006


Your friends would think you were daft and wouldn't leave off watching the pots boil, thinking they were saving you from yourself ... poor silly senile thing.

I love it !
-- reensure, Jan 27 2006



random, halfbakery