US-12624984-B2 - Food serving system

Abstract

According to an aspect, there is provided a food serving system that is able to link weighed food amounts to a single user regardless of the fact whether the user is separately identified or not. According to another aspect, there is provided a method comprising receiving weighing results associated with an identifier from at least one control unit associated with a plurality of food collecting points; and generating a total result associated with the identifier based on the weighing results associated with the identifier.

Inventors

• Mari NORRDAL
• Juhani NASKALI
• Ilmo SETÄLÄ
• Osmo SOMEROJA

Assignees

• TURUN YLIOPISTO

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20201119

Priority Date

20191122

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A food serving system comprising: a plurality of food serving points configured to serve food; a plurality of food collecting points configured to receive a tray, each food collecting point being associated with a food serving point, a control unit, a weighing device connected to the control unit and configured to weigh a tray of a user, and a reader connected to the control unit and configured to read an identifier, different food collecting points of the plurality of food collecting points being configured to serve different food portions; wherein each control unit associated with the plurality of food collecting points is configured to start a weighing event when detecting a change in weight with the weighing device associated with the food collecting point, in response to the start, associate the identifier read with the reader associated with the food collecting point with the weighing event, generate at least one weighing result with the weighing device associated with the food collecting point, and stop the weighing event when detecting no weight with the weighing device associated with the food collecting point; and a management unit configured to receive weighing results associated with the identifier from at least one control unit associated with the plurality of food collecting points, the weighing results comprising separate weighing results of different food portions collected from different food collecting points, and generate a total result associated with the identifier based on the weighing results.
2. 2 . A food serving system according to claim 1 , wherein the management unit is configured to start a new session when detecting the identifier for the first time.
3. 3 . A food serving system according to claim 2 , further comprising a tray returning point comprising a reader configured to read an identifier when the tray is returned, and the management unit is configured to end an existing session associated with the identifier in response to the reading.
4. 4 . A food serving system according to claim 2 , wherein the management unit is configured to end an existing session associated with the identifier when failing to register the identifier at the tray returning point within a predetermined period of time.
5. 5 . A food serving system according to claim 1 , further comprising a waste point comprising an associated reader configured to read the identifier when the tray is returned, wherein the waste point further comprises a waste collection point and a weighing device configured to weigh the amount of biowaste left by a user to the waste collection point, wherein management unit is configured to receive from the waste point the identifier and weighed weight of the biowaste.
6. 6 . A food serving system according to claim 1 , wherein the management unit is configured to receive from a food collecting point at least one information pair associated with a weighing result of a tray, wherein each information pair comprises a weighing result and an indication whether the identifier was read correctly or incorrectly, and the management unit is configured to calculate a sub total result associated with the food collecting point by subtracting the first weighing result associated with an indication that the identifier was read correctly from the last weighing result associated with an indication that the identifier was read correctly.
7. 7 . A food serving system according to claim 1 , further comprising a display associated with a food collecting point, wherein the management unit is configured to control the display to display at least one of the following: instructions for the weighing event at the food collecting point; a name of a dish served at a food serving point associated with the food collecting point; and additional information about the dish served at the food serving point.
8. 8 . A food serving system according to claim 1 , further comprising an identification point comprising a first reader configured to read the identifier and a second reader configured to read a user identifier, wherein the management unit is configured to receive from the identification point the identifier and the user identifier, and link the identifier with the user identifier.
9. 9 . A food serving system according to claim 8 , wherein the management unit is configured to receive from the identification point at least one additional food associated selection and link the at least one additional food associated selection with the user identifier.
10. 10 . A food serving system according to claim 1 , wherein the identifier is associated with at least one of the tray, a user or a mobile device of the user.
11. 11 . A method comprising: receiving weighing results associated with an identifier from at least one control unit associated with a plurality of food collecting points, the weighing results comprising separate weighing results of different food portions collected from different food collecting points of the plurality of food collecting points; and generating a total result associated with the identifier based on the weighing results associated with the identifier.
12. 12 . A method according to claim 11 , further comprising: starting a new session when detecting the identifier for the first time.
13. 13 . A method according to claim 12 , further comprising: receiving, from a tray returning point, an identifier when the tray is returned; and ending an existing session associated with the identifier.
14. 14 . A method according to claim 12 , further comprising: ending an existing session associated with the identifier when failing to receive the identifier from the tray returning point within a predetermined period of time.
15. 15 . A method according to claim 11 , further comprising: receiving from a food collecting point at least one information pair associated with a weighing result of a tray, wherein each information pair comprises a weighing result and an indication whether the identifier was read correctly or incorrectly; and calculating a sub total result associated with the food collecting point by subtracting the first weighing result associated with an indication that the identifier was read correctly from the last weighing result associated with an indication that the identifier was read correctly.
16. 16 . A method according to claim 11 , further comprising: controlling a display associated with a food collecting point to display at least one of the following: instructions for the weighing event at the food collecting point; a name of a dish served at a food serving point associated with the food collecting point; and additional information about the dish served at the food serving point.
17. 17 . A method according to claim 11 , further comprising: receiving from an identification point the identifier and a user identifier; and linking the identifier with the user identifier.
18. 18 . A method according to claim 17 , further comprising: receiving from the identification point at least one additional food associated selection; and linking the at least one additional food associated selection with the user identifier.
19. 19 . A method according to claim 11 , wherein the identifier is associated with at least one of the tray, a user or a mobile device of the user.
20. 20 . A computer program comprises program code which, when executed by at least one processor, performs the method of claim 11 .

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a U.S. National Stage application under 35 USC 371 of PCT Application Serial No. PCT/FI2020/050782, filed on 19 Nov. 2020, which claims priority from FI application No. 20196007, filed on 22 Nov. 2019, the entirety of each of which is incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to the field of data processing in general, and to a solution for operating a food serving system and for managing the food serving system. BACKGROUND There exists solutions for tracking the amount of consumed food by people having, for example, a lunch, and linking the consumed food to identified users. For example, a line serving lunch may be provided with weighing devices in connection with the served dishes and readers for reading user-associated identifiers, for example, from smart cards. At a specific food collecting point, the user may first be identified with the smart card, and after that, the user may take a desired amount of a dish. The amount taken by the user is weighed and the weight information is associated with the user. By identifying the user at multiple food collecting points and associating the food weight information with the user, it is possible determine, for example, energy contents of the food selected by the user. However, a problem with at least some of the existing solutions is, for example, that information about food consumption is obtained only for users that use user-specific identification means, for example, smart cards to identify themselves. If a user does not have smart card, food collected and weighted by such a user cannot be linked to any user. SUMMARY This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a technical solution for enabling linking weighed food amounts to a single user regardless of the fact whether the user is separately identified or not. The object above is achieved by the features of the independent claims in the appended claims. Further embodiments and examples are apparent from the dependent claims, the detailed description and the accompanying drawings. According to a first aspect, there is provided a food serving system. The system comprises a plurality of food serving points configured to serve food; a plurality of food collecting points configured to receive a tray, each food collecting point being associated with a food serving point, a control unit, a weighing device connected to the control unit and configured to weigh a tray of a user, and a reader connected to the control unit and configured to read an identifier. Each control unit associated with the plurality of food collecting points is configured to start a weighing event when detecting a change in weight with the weighing device associated with the food collecting point, in response to the start, associate the identifier read with the reader associated with the food collecting point with the weighing event, generate at least one weighing result with the weighing device associated with the food collecting point, and stop the weighing event when detecting no weight with the weighing device associated with the food collecting point; and a management unit configured to receive weighing results associated with the identifier from at least one control unit associated with the plurality of food collecting points and generate a total result associated with the identifier based on the weighing results. In an implementation form of the first aspect, the identifier is associated with at least one of the tray, a user or a mobile device of the user. In an implementation form of the first aspect, the management unit is configured to start a new session when detecting the identifier for the first time. In an implementation form of the first aspect, the system further comprises a tray returning point comprising a reader configured to read an identifier when the tray is returned, and the management unit is configured to end an existing session associated with the identifier in response to the reading. In an implementation form of the first aspect, the management unit is configured to end an existing session associated with the identifier when failing to register the identifier at the tray returning point within a predetermined period of time. In an implementation form of the first aspect, the system further comprises a waste point comprising an associated reader configured to read the identifier when the tray is returned, wherein the waste point further comprises a waste collection point and a weighing device configured to weigh the amount of biowaste left by a user to the waste collection point, wherein management un