The invention relates to a method (100) and apparatus for controlling the heating of food ingredients. The method comprises the step of measuring (110) the spectrum of energy absorption of the food ingredients in a given range of radio frequencies. The method also comprises the step of identifying (120), in said given range of radio frequencies, the radio frequency for which the food ingredients have the maximum energy absorption. The method also comprises the step of applying (130) an electrical field to the food ingredients, said electrical field having a radio frequency corresponding to said radio frequency for which the food ingredients have the maximum energy absorption. The step of measuring (110) comprises, for a plurality of selected radio frequencies in said given range of radio frequencies, the steps of: applying an electrical field on the food ingredients having a radio frequency corresponding to a given selected radio frequency in said plurality of selected radio frequencies; and, measuring the ratio between the energy of the radio frequency electrical field reflected or absorbed from the food ingredients, and the energy of the radio frequency electrical field applied to the food ingredients. The plurality of selected radio frequencies are selected from said given range of radio frequencies by the steps of: for each of said given range of radio frequencies, obtaining a penetration depth of an electrical field having a radio frequency corresponding to the given radio frequency into the food ingredients, and including the given radio frequency into the plurality of selected radio frequencies if the penetration depth of the electrical field having radio frequency corresponding to the given radio frequency is equal to or larger than the thickness of the food ingredients in the direction of the electrical field applied to the food ingredients. This invention allows reducing the heating time of food ingredients.

Provided herein is an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle fleet comprising a plurality of autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles coordinated by a fleet management module. Each vehicle may be configured to receive a modular unit, wherein the modular unit is configured to secure a consumer product.

A refrigerator includes a cooling/heating chamber capable of cooling and heating foods. The cooling/heating chamber is divided into a heating zone that is a space where foods to be heated are placed, and a non-heating zone that is a space continuous with the heating zone where foods not to be heated are placed. The refrigerator further includes an oscillation electrode and a counter electrode that are arranged so as to face each other with the heating zone in between, and an oscillating unit that applies an AC voltage to between the oscillation electrode and the counter electrode.

Systems and methods for autonomous delivery management are disclosed. In various embodiments, the system includes one or more processors and a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor(s), cause the autonomous delivery management system to provide a user interface for a customer to enter subscription information, receive subscription information from the user interface where the subscription information includes an item and a time interval for regularly delivering the item to the customer, store the subscription information, determine a handling itinerary for the item that includes delivery of the item in compliance with the time interval, and communicate instructions to an autonomous vehicle based on the handling itinerary.

The present invention provides a highly reliable and safe heating device that can uniformly heat an object to be heated and provides a refrigerator having a storage space in which frozen products as storage products can be easily thawed to a high-quality state. A heating device of the present invention includes an oscillation electrode disposed on one hand of the heating space and having an electrode surface on which an electric field concentration region is formed, a counter electrode disposed on the other hand of the heating space and having an electrode surface that faces the electrode surface of the oscillation electrode, and a high-frequency electric field forming unit for forming a high-frequency electric field applied to between the oscillation electrode and the counter electrode.

A thawing method for a thawing device includes: generating a radio frequency signal; acquiring the radio frequency signal; an upper electrode plate and a lower electrode plate of the thawing chamber generating, according to the radio frequency signal, radio frequency waves having a corresponding frequency in a thawing chamber and thawing an object to be processed, obtaining voltages and currents of the incident wave signal and reflected wave signal, and determining a thawing progress of the object to be processed.

An electromagnetic cooking device is provided having a controller and a plurality of RF feeds configured to introduce electromagnetic radiation into an enclosed cavity to heat up a food load. The controller is configured to: select a heating target; generate a heating strategy to determine a sequence of desired heating patterns; cause the RF feeds to output an RF signal to thereby excite the enclosed cavity; monitor the created heating patterns to measure resonances in the enclosed cavity and store a map of efficiency in frequency and phase domains from which the controller identifies resonant modes and Q-factors associated therewith; continue to monitor the created heating patterns and store maps of efficiency in the frequency and phase domains until a specified change is detected in at least one Q-factor; and when the specified change in the at least one Q-factor is identified, stop cooking the food load.

A method for heating or cooking a frozen food product with a susceptor in a solid state microwave oven includes placing the frozen food product with a susceptor into a microwave oven, heating the food product at a first heating step at a low absorption frequency, and heating the food product at a second heating step at a high absorption frequency.

An apparatus for applying electromagnetic energy to an object in an energy application zone via at least one radiating element is disclosed. The apparatus may include at least one processor. The at least one processor may be configured to determine a value indicative of energy absorbable by the object at each of a plurality of frequencies and to cause the at least one radiating element to apply energy to the zone in at least a subset of the plurality of frequencies. Energy applied to the zone at each of the subset of frequencies may be a function of the absorbable energy value at each frequency.

A system includes a radio frequency (RF) signal source configured to supply an RF signal. An electrode is coupled to the RF signal source and a transmission path is between the RF signal source and the electrode. The transmission path is configured to convey the RF signal from the RF signal source to the electrode to cause the electrode to radiate RF electromagnetic energy into a cavity. Power detection circuitry is coupled to the transmission path and configured to repeatedly measure RF power values including at least one of forward RF power values and reflected RF power values along the transmission path. A controller is configured to determine that a load in the cavity is a low-loss load based on a rate of change of the RF power values, and cause the RF signal source to supply the RF signal with the one or more desired signal parameters.