Many cheap, consumer toasters still rely on simple open-loop timers to control the toasting process. This project attempts to tackle this annoying problem with an over-the-top and sufficiently over-engineered solution: adding a sensor suite and edge AI to “smell” when the toast is done. While the project is playful, it demonstrates the power of embedded machine learning to address various predictive maintenance issues by identifying problems before they become worse.

Project Overview

Most modern toasters and toaster ovens use a timer to determine the crispiness of your bread slice. This open-loop control system suffers from a lack of feedback, as there is no way for the machine to know when the toast is done. The user must guess at a cook time for their desired level of doneness. Achieving the perfect toast is easily thwarted by different sizes and types of bread, and the timer must be manually adjusted by the user.

 

In 2021, Benjamin Cabé built an AI-powered “Artificial No...