Cloud system for controlling outdoor grill with mobile application

1. A cloud computing platform for communicating with and controlling operation of a wood-pellet grill comprising a hopper having an auger and for loading combustible pellets into a combustion area of the wood-pellet grill, the cloud computing platform comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions thereon that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the cloud computing platform to:

receive inputs from a mobile device including at least a first input indicating that the wood-pellet grill is permitted to communicate with the cloud computing platform;

generate notifications that are to be sent to a software application of the mobile device;

send at least one generated notification to the software application, the generated notification indicating that the cloud computing platform is communicably connected to the wood-pellet grill;

receive a second input from the software application of the mobile device indicating one or more specified functions to be performed by the wood-pellet grill; and

sending one or more instructions to the wood-pellet grill to perform the one or more specified functions.

2. The cloud computing platform of claim 1 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the cloud computing platform to communicate directly with the wood-pellet grill via an access point within range of the wood-pellet grill.

3. The cloud computing platform of claim 1 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the cloud computing platform to communicate with the wood-pellet grill via the software application of the mobile device.

4. The cloud computing platform of claim 1 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the cloud computing platform to generate advertisements for transmission to the wood-pellet grill or to the software application of the mobile device.

5. The cloud computing platform of claim 4 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the cloud computing platform to:

receive usage data from the wood-pellet grill, the usage data comprising at least one of digital probe information, duration of use information, or amount of power drawn from components of the wood-pellet grill; and

customize one or more advertisements for users of the wood-pellet grill based on the received usage data.

6. The cloud computing platform of claim 1 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the cloud computing platform to receive usage data from the wood-pellet grill.

7. The cloud computing platform of claim 6 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the cloud computing platform to:

analyze the usage data received from the wood-pellet grill; and

generate one or more wood-pellet grill-related analytics for the wood-pellet grill.

8. The cloud computing platform of claim 7 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the cloud computing platform to verify a warranty claim based on the wood-pellet grill-related analytics.

9. The cloud computing platform of claim 7 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the cloud computing platform to perform remote diagnostics on the wood-pellet grill.

10. The cloud computing platform of claim 9 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the cloud computing platform to predict failures for one or more components of the wood-pellet grill.

11. The cloud computing platform of claim 10 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the cloud computing platform to transmit one or more notification messages to the wood-pellet grill or to the software application of the mobile device regarding the predicted component failures.

12. A method for controlling a wood-pellet grill, the wood-pellet grill comprising a controller and a hopper having an auger and for loading combustible pellets into a combustion area of the wood-pellet grill, the method comprising:

receiving a first input from a mobile device indicating that at least a first wood-pellet grill is permitted to communicate with a cloud computing platform;

generating a notification that is to be sent to a software application of the mobile device;

transmitting the generated notification to the software application of the mobile device, the generated notification indicating that the cloud computing platform is communicably connected to the wood-pellet grill;

receiving a second input from the software application of the mobile device indicating one or more specified functions are to be performed by the wood-pellet grill; and

transmitting one or more instructions to the wood-pellet grill to perform the one or more specified functions.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising receiving, from the wood-pellet grill, data including ambient air temperature data related to an environment in which the wood-pellet grill resides.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising altering the one or more instructions, prior to transmitting the one or more instructions to the wood-pellet grill, to compensate for the received ambient air temperature data.

15. The method of claim 12 , further comprising receiving food temperature data from a digital thermometer at the wood-pellet grill.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising adjusting the one or more instructions, prior to transmitting the one or more instructions to the wood-pellet grill, to further include an alert based on the received food temperature data.

17. A cloud computing platform for communicating with and controlling operation of a wood-pellet grill comprising a hopper having an auger and for loading combustible pellets into a combustion area of the wood-pellet grill, the cloud computing platform comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions thereon that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the cloud computing platform to:

receive inputs from a remote device including at least a first input indicating that the wood-pellet grill is permitted to communicate with the cloud computing platform;

receive a second input from the remote device indicating that one or more specified functions are to be performed by the wood-pellet grill;

generate control signals that are to be sent to the wood-pellet grill, the control signals being configured to control functions of the wood-pellet grill according to the received second input; and

transmit the generated control signals to the wood-pellet grill to perform the one or more specified functions.

18. The cloud computing platform of claim 17 , further comprising a storage device in which data related to recipes, custom smoking patterns, and user appliance usage data is stored.

19. The cloud computing platform of claim 18 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the cloud computing platform to:

access one or more selected recipes from the storage device; and

generate control signals for the wood-pellet grill according to the one or more selected recipes, the generated control signals including instructions to smoke a food item according to at least one smoke pattern specified in the one or more recipes.

20. The cloud computing platform of claim 18 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the cloud computing platform to:

access the user appliance usage data from the storage device;

generate one or more advertisements based on the user appliance usage data; and

transmit the one or more generated advertisements to the wood-pellet grill or to a software application of the remote device.