Teaching Arduino Through a Smart Cooking Project

[jonshah]

Hi everyone,

I want to introduce Arduino programming to students through a fun and practical food-related project. My idea is to create a smart cooking assistant, such as:

A temperature-controlled food warmer
An automatic ingredient dispenser
A smart timer for baking or cooking

Could you suggest:

1. Beginner-friendly sensors (e.g., temperature, weight, or humidity) for food projects?
2. Any interactive ways to teach coding using real-world food applications?
3. Example lesson plans or projects that engage students in food technology?

Looking forward to your ideas! Thanks!

[robtillaart]

1. Waterproof DS18B20 to measure temperature (can handle 125C == cooking water).
   For higher temperatures (French fries) you could use a thermocouple e.g. MAX6675.
   Maybe it is useful to buy a (FLIR) heat camera for classical use.
   Mini buzzer is also useful for warning signals.
   red and green led for temperature indication.
   An LCD display 4x20 characters to show "timed" instructions?
   Using a load cell with an HX711?

2. The first application would be to find the ideal timing for cooking an egg (soft, medium, hard). Read the temperature e.g. every 5 seconds for e.g. 10-20 minutes,
   What is the starting temperature? When is 100°C reached? What happens with the temperature when cooling down?
   Put an egg in boiling water and switch of the heat, after how long cooling the egg is perfect? Saves energy!

3. Sorry

Some of my libraries you might look at

• GitHub - RobTillaart/CountDown: Arduino library to implement a countdown clock (in software by polling, no hardware timer).
• GitHub - RobTillaart/Stopwatch_RT: Arduino Library implementing a stopwatch including minutes, seconds, milliseconds and microseconds
• GitHub - RobTillaart/DS18B20_RT: Arduino library for the DS18B20 sensor - restricted to one sensor per pin.
• GitHub - RobTillaart/MAX6675: Arduino library for MAX6675 chip for K type thermocouple

[jonshah]

It looks like you're brainstorming an Arduino-based temperature monitoring system for cooking eggs efficiently. Your idea involves using temperature sensors (DS18B20 and MAX6675), an LCD display, LEDs, a buzzer, and possibly a load cell (HX711).

To refine your project:

1. Sensor Selection

• DS18B20: Ideal for boiling water (max 125°C).
• MAX6675 with K-type thermocouple: Needed for higher temperatures like deep frying.
• FLIR Camera: Overkill for this use case but useful for broader thermal analysis.

2. User Interface

• LCD 4x20 Display: Great for step-by-step cooking instructions.
• LEDs: Red & green for temperature indication.
• Buzzer: Alerts when ideal temperature/time is reached.

3. Data Collection & Automation

• Arduino with Countdown/Stopwatch Libraries: Helps track time precisely.
• Load Cell (HX711): Could measure evaporation weight loss or detect egg weight changes.

4. Energy-Efficient Cooking

• Log temperature every 5 sec for 10–20 min.
• Analyze cooling curve when heat is off to find optimal timing for soft/medium/hard eggs.

[xfpd]

@jonshah

I want to introduce Arduino programming to students

@jonshah

Could you suggest:

1. Beginner-friendly sensors (e.g., temperature, weight, or humidity) for food projects?
2. Any interactive ways to teach coding using real-world food applications?
3. Example lesson plans or projects that engage students in food technology?

Where do you participate (introduce programming) if you are expecting input of ideas, devices and code?