Electronic oven with infrared evaluative control

1. A computer-implemented method for heating an item in a chamber comprising:

applying energy to the item from a microwave energy source;

evaluating a function to generate a first function output, wherein a first potential action is used to evaluate the function;

generating a plan to heat the item in the chamber using the first function output, wherein the plan is a sequence of actions; and

executing the plan to thereby heat the item in the chamber;

wherein the function is a cost function;

wherein the first function output is a first plan cost; and

wherein the first potential action is one of: (i) altering a relative position of a distribution of energy in the chamber from the microwave energy source; and (ii) altering an intensity of the distribution of energy in the chamber from the microwave energy source.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

evaluating the function to generate a second function output, wherein a second potential action is used to evaluate the function, wherein the second potential action and the first potential action are each members of mutually exclusive plans;

wherein the second function output is a second plan cost; and

selecting the plan for further evaluation based on a comparison of the first plan cost and the second plan cost;

wherein the second function output is also used to generate the plan.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein evaluating the function further comprises:

estimating a future plan cost using a heuristic;

calculating a traversed plan cost; and

summing the future plan cost and the traversed plan cost.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , wherein using the heuristic comprises:

obtaining a set of temperature values from a surface temperature distribution of the item;

obtaining a set of delta values, wherein each delta value corresponds to a temperature value in the set of temperature values and a desired temperature value; and

summing the set of delta values to obtain the estimated future plan cost.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

sensing a first surface temperature distribution for the item using an infrared sensor;

comparing the first surface temperature distribution to a planned surface temperature distribution;

detecting a variance during the comparing step;

deriving a second plan to heat the item in response to detecting the variance; and

at least partially executing the second plan to thereby heat the item in the chamber;

wherein the planned surface temperature distribution is generated with the plan to heat the item in the chamber.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

sensing a first surface temperature distribution for the item using an infrared sensor; and

extrapolating a planned surface temperature distribution using the first surface temperature distribution;

wherein the planned surface temperature distribution is also used to evaluate the function and generate the first function output.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein:

the function is at least partially defined by a first term that increase with a plan duration; and

the function is at least partially defined by a second term that increases when a surface temperature value in the planned surface temperature distribution exceeds a threshold temperature.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , further comprising:

identifying a category associated with the item using at least one of the infrared sensor and a visual light sensor; and

initializing an extrapolation engine using the category;

wherein the extrapolating of the planned surface temperature distribution is conducted using the extrapolation engine.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions to execute a computer-implemented method for heating an item in a chamber, the computer-implemented method comprising:

applying energy to the item from a microwave energy source;

evaluating a function to generate a first function output, wherein a first potential action is used to evaluate the function;

generating a plan to heat the item in the chamber using the first function output, wherein the plan is a sequence of actions; and

executing the plan to thereby heat the item in the chamber;

wherein the function is a cost function;

wherein the first function output is a first plan cost; and

wherein the first potential action is one of: (i) altering a relative position of a distribution of energy in the chamber from the microwave energy source; and (ii) altering an intensity of the distribution of energy in the chamber from the microwave energy source.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , the computer-implemented method further comprising:

evaluating the function to generate a second function output, wherein a second potential action is used to evaluate the function, wherein the second potential action and the first potential action are each members of mutually exclusive plans;

wherein the second function output is a second plan cost; and

selecting the plan for further evaluation based on a comparison of the first plan cost and the second plan cost;

wherein the second function output is also used to generate the plan.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein evaluating the function further comprises:

estimating a future plan cost using a heuristic;

calculating a traversed plan cost; and

summing the future plan cost and the traversed plan cost.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein using the heuristic comprises:

obtaining a set of temperature values from a surface temperature distribution of the item;

obtaining a set of delta values, wherein each delta value corresponds to a temperature value in the set of temperature values and a desired temperature value; and

summing the set of delta values to obtain the estimated future plan cost.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , the computer-implemented method further comprising:

sensing a first surface temperature distribution for the item using an infrared sensor;

comparing the first surface temperature distribution to a planned surface temperature distribution;

detecting a variance during the comparing step;

deriving a second plan to heat the item in response to detecting the variance; and

at least partially executing the second plan to thereby heat the item in the chamber;

wherein the planned surface temperature distribution is generated with the plan to heat the item in the chamber.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , the computer-implemented method further comprising:

sensing a first surface temperature distribution for the item using an infrared sensor; and

extrapolating a planned surface temperature distribution using the first surface temperature distribution;

wherein the planned surface temperature distribution is also used to evaluate the function and generate the first function output.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein:

the function is at least partially defined by a first term that increase with a plan duration; and

the function is at least partially defined by a second term that increases when a surface temperature value in the planned surface temperature distribution exceeds a threshold temperature.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , the computer-implemented method further comprising:

identifying a category associated with the item using at least one of the infrared sensor and a visual light sensor; and

initializing an extrapolation engine using the category;

wherein the extrapolating of the planned surface temperature distribution is conducted using the extrapolation engine.