Method for determining dosage of detergent, dishwasher, processor, and storage medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12539014-B2
Application number	US-202218252887-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 11, 2022
Priority date	Jan 11, 2021
Publication date	Feb 3, 2026
Grant date	Feb 3, 2026

Abstract

A method for determining the usage amount of detergent, and a dishwasher, a processor, a storage medium and a computer program product. The method for determining the usage amount of detergent includes acquiring an internal image of a dishwasher captured by an image acquisition device; according to the internal image, determining whether there is a target object in the dishwasher; when it is determined that there is a target object, generating a position table of the target object; determining the dirtiness of the target object according to the position table; and determining the usage amount of detergent for the dishwasher according to the dirtiness. The dirtiness of a target object needing to be cleaned in a dishwasher is determined by means of an image acquisition device, and the usage amount of detergent for the dishwasher is then determined according to the dirtiness.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for determining a dosage of detergent, applied to a dishwasher, wherein the dishwasher comprises an image acquisition device, a door and a spraying arm, and the method comprises:
obtaining an internal image of the dishwasher acquired by the image acquisition device; determining whether a target object exists in the dishwasher according to the internal image; determining a position grid of the target object in determination that the target object exists; acquiring a fouling value of the target object according to the position grid; calculating to obtain a product of a preset constant coefficient and a square of the fouling value as the dosage of detergent of the dishwasher; actuating the spray arm and performing washing the target object; detecting and monitoring a door status during washing; and in determination that the door is opened and then closed, recalculating the dosage of detergent, and performing washing the target object according to the recalculated dosage of detergent; wherein the recalculating the dosage of detergent comprises: obtaining the internal image of the dishwasher acquired by the image acquisition device; determining whether the target object exists in the dishwasher according to the internal image; determining the position grid of the target object in determination that the target object exists; acquiring the fouling value of the target object according to the position grid; and calculating to obtain the product of the preset constant coefficient and the square of the fouling value as the recalculated dosage of detergent.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein acquiring the fouling value of the target object according to the position grid comprises:
determining a first position of the target object in the position grid; determining a neighboring object adjacent to the target object in the position grid according to the first position; acquiring a first fouling value of the target object and a second fouling value of the neighboring object; and determining a sum of a preset proportion of the second fouling value and the first fouling value as the fouling value of the target object.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein acquiring the first fouling value of the target object and the second fouling value of the neighboring object comprises:
determining a first area of the target object and a second area of the neighboring object according to the internal image; acquiring the first fouling value according to the first area; and acquiring the second fouling value according to the second area.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the neighboring object comprises at least one of objects adjacent to the target object in an upper, lower, left, and right directions in the position grid.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the target object exists in the dishwasher according to the internal image comprises:
determining the fouling value as a preset value in accordance with a determination that the target object does not exist.

6 . A dishwasher, comprising an image acquisition device, a door, a spraying arm and a processor, wherein the processor is configured to implement a method for determining a dosage of detergent applied to the dishwasher, and the method comprises:
obtaining an internal image of the dishwasher, acquired by the image acquisition device; determining whether a target object exists in the dishwasher according to the internal image; determining a position grid of the target object in determination that the target object exists; acquiring a fouling value of the target object according to the position grid; calculating to obtain a product of a preset constant coefficient and a square of the fouling value as the dosage of detergent of the dishwasher; actuating the spray arm and performing washing the target object; detecting and monitoring a door status during washing; and in determination that the door is opened and then closed, recalculating the dosage of detergent, and performing washing the target object according to the recalculated dosage of detergent; wherein the recalculating the dosage of detergent comprises: obtaining the internal image of the dishwasher acquired by the image acquisition device; determining whether the target object exists in the dishwasher according to the internal image; determining the position grid of the target object in determination that the target object exists; acquiring the fouling value of the target object according to the position grid; and calculating to obtain the product of the preset constant coefficient and the square of the fouling value as the recalculated dosage of detergent.

7 . The dishwasher of claim 6 , wherein acquiring the fouling value of the target object according to the position grid comprises:
determining a first position of the target object in the position grid; determining a neighboring object adjacent to the target object in the position grid according to the first position; acquiring a first fouling value of the target object and a second fouling value of the neighboring object; and determining a sum of a preset proportion of the second fouling value and the first fouling value as the fouling value of the target object.

8 . The dishwasher of claim 7 , wherein acquiring the first fouling value of the target object and the second fouling value of the neighboring object comprises:
determining a first area of the target object and a second area of the neighboring object according to the internal image; acquiring the first fouling value according to the first area; and acquiring the second fouling value according to the second area.

9 . The dishwasher of claim 7 , wherein the neighboring object comprises at least one of objects adjacent to the target object in an upper, lower, left, and right directions in the position grid.

10 . The dishwasher of claim 6 , wherein determining whether the target object exists in the dishwasher according to the internal image comprises:
determining the fouling value as a preset value in accordance with a determination that the target object does not exist.

11 . A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, having an instruction stored thereon, wherein when the instruction is executed by a processor, the processor is configured to implement a method for determining a dosage of detergent applied to a dishwasher, wherein the dishwasher comprises an image acquisition device, a door and a spraying arm, and the method comprises:
obtaining an internal image of the dishwasher, acquired by the image acquisition device; determining whether a target object exists in the dishwasher according to the internal image; determining a position grid of the target object in determination that the target object exists; acquiring a fouling value of the target object according to the position grid; calculating to obtain a product of a preset constant coefficient and a square of the fouling value as the dosage of detergent of the dishwasher; actuating the spray arm and performing washing the target object; detecting and monitoring a door status during washing; and in determination that the door is opened and then closed, recalculating the dosage of detergent, and performing washing the target object according to the recalculated dosage of detergent; wherein the recalculating the dosage of detergent comprises: obtaining the internal image of the dishwasher acquired by the image acquisition device; determining whether the target object exists in the dishwasher according to the internal image; determining the position grid of the target object in determin

Assignees

• Foshan Shunde Midea Washing Appliances Mfg Co Ltd

Inventors

• Wang Caixia
• Zhang Feibao
• Fan Zhiheng
• Quan Yongbing

Classifications

• A47L2501/07

  Consumable products, e.g. detergent, rinse aids or salt · CPC title

• A47L2401/04

  Crockery or tableware details, e.g. material, quantity, condition · CPC title

• G06V20/50

  Context or environment of the image · CPC title

• G06T7/70

  Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras (camera calibration G06T7/80) · CPC title

• G06T7/0002

  Inspection of images, e.g. flaw detection · CPC title