Beverage preparation machine with capsule recognition
A machine ( 1 ) for preparing and dispensing a beverage ( 2 ) has: a capsule extraction unit ( 10 ) having a first part ( 11 ) and a second part ( 12 ) that are relatively movable between a distant position for inserting a capsule ( 3 ) and a close position for extracting such capsule ( 3 ); a control unit ( 40 ) for controlling the extraction unit ( 10 ) to extract such capsule ( 3 ); an outlet ( 20 ) for dispensing said beverage ( 2 ) formed by extracting such capsule ( 3 ) to a user-receptacle ( 4 ) located in a receptacle placing area; and a capsule recognition arrangement ( 30 ) connected to the control unit ( 40 ) for recognizing the colour of at least part of a capsule inserted in the machine ( 1 ).
1 . A method of preparing and dispensing a beverage from a capsule, comprising:
inserting the capsule in a machine;
sensing a sample color of at least part of a surface of the capsule;
comparing the sample color to at least one reference color by:
(i) computing a first distance as a color distance which is a Euclidian distance or other distance in a space between a sample color vector of the sample color and a reference color vector of the at least one reference color, wherein the sample color vector comprises at least three raw values with a first color, a second color, and a third color, and wherein the reference color vector comprises at least reference values with a first reference color, a second reference color, and a third reference color;
(ii) computing a sample chromaticity vector from the first color, the second color, and the third color of the sample color vector, wherein the sample chromaticity vector is different from the sample color vector;
(iii) computing a second distance as a chromaticity distance which is a Euclidian distance or other distance in a space between the sample chromaticity vector of the sample color and a reference chromaticity vector of the at least one reference color, wherein the chromaticity distance is a different distance from the color distance; and
(iv) computing a score by calculation of a value by a function of the color distance and the chromaticity distance to determine a match between the sample color and the at least one reference color;
recognising a type of the capsule based on the result of the comparison; and
in response to said recognising, determining extraction parameters on the basis of the recognised type of the capsule to prepare a beverage.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the sample color vector and the reference color vector are three-dimensional RGB vectors.
3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising computing the score by computing a luminosity level of the sample color and weighting the color distance by a color balance weighting factor and the chromaticity distance by a chromaticity balance weighting factor, the color balance weighting factor and the chromaticity balance weighting factor determined on the basis of the luminosity level.
4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
computing the color distance by computing an Euclidian distance between the sample color vector and the reference color vector; and
computing the chromaticity distance by computing an Euclidian distance between the sample chromaticity vector and the reference chromaticity vector.
5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
comparing the sample color to a plurality of reference colors by computing a plurality of scores by calculation of a plurality of values, each of the plurality of values calculated as a function of one of a plurality of color distances and one of a plurality of chromaticity distances for determining a match between the sample color and each reference color of the plurality of reference colors; and
recognizing the capsule based on the reference color of the plurality of reference colors that best matches the sample color.
6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a match between the sample color and the reference color if the score is below or equal to a threshold value, and to determine no match between the sample color and the reference color if the score is above the threshold value.
7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising preparing the beverage based on a manual user-input on a user-interface connected to a control unit.
8 . A method of preparing and dispensing a beverage from a capsule, comprising:
inserting the capsule in a capsule feeder of a machine, the capsule feeder for feeding of the capsule to an extraction chamber of the machine;
sensing a sample color of at least part of a surface of the capsule;
comparing the sample color to at least one reference color by:
(i) computing a first distance as a color distance which is a Euclidian distance or other distance in a space between a sample color vector of the sample color and a reference color vector of the at least one reference color;
(ii) computing a sample chromaticity vector from the sample color vector;
(iii) computing a second distance as a chromaticity distance which is a Euclidian distance or other distance in a space between the sample chromaticity vector of the sample color and a reference chromaticity vector of the at least one reference color; and
(iv) computing a score by calculation of a value by a function of the color distance and the chromaticity distance to determine a match between the sample color and the at least one reference color;
recognising a type of the capsule based on the result of the comparison;
in response to said recognising, supplying, by the capsule feeder, the capsule to an extracting unit,
wherein the capsule feeder includes a capsule gate which does not form part of the extraction chamber, the capsule gate movable between a position obstructing transfer of the capsule towards the extraction chamber and a position clearing transfer of the capsule towards the extraction chamber.
9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising detecting the presence of a capsule located on or approaching the capsule feeder of the machine and triggering color recognition.
10 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising recognising a material of a capsule located on or approaching the capsule feeder of the machine.
11 . A method of preparing and dispensing a beverage from a capsule, comprising:
inserting the capsule in a machine;
sensing a sample color of at least part of a surface of the capsule;
comparing the sample color to at least one reference color by:
(i) computing a first distance as a color distance which is a Euclidian distance or other distance in a space between a sample color vector of the sample color and a reference color vector of the at least one reference color;
(ii) computing a sample chromaticity vector from the sample color vector;
(iii) computing a second distance as a chromaticity distance which is a Euclidian distance or other distance in a space between the sample chromaticity vector of the sample color and a reference chromaticity vector of the at least one reference color; and
(iv) computing a score by calculation of a value by a function of the color distance and the chromaticity distance to determine a match between the sample color and the at least one reference color;
recognising a type of the capsule based on the result of the comparison;
in response to said recognising, controlling with a control unit configured to control an actuator to relatively move a first part and a second part of an extraction chamber of the machine between a distant position for inserting and/or removing the capsule and a closed position for processing the capsule.
12 . A method of preparing and dispensing a beverage from a capsule, comprising:
inserting the capsule in a machine;
sensing a sample color of at least part of a surface of the capsule;
comparing the sample color to at least one reference color by:
(i) computing a first distance as a color distance which is a Euclidian distance or other distance in a space between a sample color vector of the sample color and a reference color vector of the at least one reference color, wherein the sample color vector comprises at least three raw values with a first color, a second color, and a third color, and wherein the reference color vector comprises at least reference values with a first reference color, a second reference color, and a third reference color;
(ii) computing a sample chromaticity vector from the first color, the second color, and the third color of the sample color vector, wherein the sample chromaticity vector is different from the sample color vector;
(iii) computing a second distance as a chromaticity distance which is a Euclidian distance or other distance in a space between the sample chromaticity vector of the sample color and a reference chromaticity vector of the at least one reference color, wherein the chromaticity distance is a different distance from the color distance; and
(iv) computing a score by calculation of a value by a function of the color distance and the chromaticity distance to determine a match between the sample color and the at least one reference color, wherein the score is computed by computing a luminosity level of the sample color and weighting the color distance by a color balance weighting factor and the chromaticity distance by a chromaticity balance weighting factor, the color balance weighting factor and the chromaticity balance weighting factor determined on the basis of the luminosity level;
recognising a type of the capsule based on the result of the comparison; and
in response to said recognising, determining extraction parameters on the basis of the recognised type of the capsule to prepare a beverage.